Out of the Ashes
by Forbearnan
Summary: Fiction Note to Readers.
1. Traitor

**Title:** Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer:** All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

_This is my first Merlin fan-fiction. Hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

**Betrayal**

* * *

It was so ironic; what had brought them together had now broken them apart. It was a perfect moment of déjà vu.

Arthur couldn't believe it. When he learned the truth – saw the truth - it hurt him more than anything else could. It felt like a sword to the heart.

Merlin had used magic to save him.

But Arthur's father had told him that magic was evil. Those who practiced it were corrupted by it and only sought to destroy the kingdom. They lusted only in power and wealth.

_But this could not be true._ What Arthur had witnessed that day proved that not all magic was evil – he himself would have died, _had it not been for magic_. And it would never have happened if it _hadn't been for magic_.

Arthur had seen many sorcerers burned at the stake and never felt for them as he watched them being consumed by the flames. What had Merlin done to him that had made Arthur feel like what he was going to do to Merlin so wrong?

_He has broken the law, and now he must pay for it._

But Arthur couldn't bring himself to think of Merlin as a traitor. He couldn't possibly be.

If Merlin had told him about his secret before, then maybe he wouldn't be burned the next morning. Maybe Arthur could have done something.

Maybe it didn't have to end this way.

* * *

It was dark in the cell and he was ashamed. Ashamed that he failed Arthur, that he failed his destiny. The Great Dragon had told him that his downfall would be trying to see the goodness in people.

He tried to see the good in her, and now, he had to face the consequences.

He shouldn't have been so careless – Gaius had told him to be careful. He had used magic many times before to save Arthur. He shouldn't have been so careless _this time_.

But it was too late. His secret was out. What was done was done and there was no turning back.

Awe, fear, anger… sadness all flashed across Arthur's face when he had learned the truth. _But not in the way Merlin had intended Arthur to learn about who he was._

Only afterwards, when Gaius had come down to talk to him, did Merlin realize who the person was who wanted to kill Arthur.

_Morgana._

He was sick of her name. Because of her hatred of Uther and his laws against magic, she wanted nothing more but to see Arthur dead. And now, with himself gone, she would most certainly be able to kill Arthur. Driven with hate, it blinded her, just like it had blinded Uther from seeing sense.

But Merlin understood her anger. He finally understood that he should have helped her; he should have told her from the very beginning - and guided her. But he hadn't, and now, she had found her half-sister, Morgause. Morgause was now _her_ _leader_, the person she could confine all of her darkest secrets with, the person whom she could talk freely about her magic with, the one who _taught her _about her magic, about her power. Morgause was the only person Morgana could trust.

He sat in the cell, alone, in the darkness.


	2. The Dawn of a New Day

**Title:** Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer:** All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

**Warnings:** This chapter features depressing topics. I hope you enjoy it! :p

**Spoilers:** Features spoilers from ep4 s1, ep8 s2 and ep5 s3 and a moment of déjà vu from ep1 s3 and ep3 s3.

**Chapter Note:** Arthur's inner struggle is more prominent in this chapter.

* * *

**The Dawn of a New Day**

* * *

_"Time will heal all wounds, they say. And it´s true, mostly."  
- Gneffer Yagunna_

* * *

Arthur had a small dinner – he didn't much of an appetite – and retired early to his chambers that night. The fire in his room was lit, Arthur noticed. Arthur glanced around his bedroom with a dejected expression on his face; his bed was still unmade and his chamber was disordered – objects of all sorts, tossed angrily at the ground, lay scattered across the floor.

His room had been in this state for a few days – muddled, chaotic, and disorderly – just like his thoughts.

Arthur knew that it was childish not to allow his father to get him a new servant after Merlin was gone, but somehow it felt wrong to let someone else take Merlin's place. All of the servants treated Arthur with respect, which angered him. Perhaps he had grown _too _accustomed to Merlin, calling him a 'prat' or a 'clotpole' (whatever that meant) and speaking aloud what he believed, no matter what Arthurs' or anyone else's views were.

Arthur knew that he would never be able to find another servant like Merlin.

Arthur sat in his chair, deep his thoughts with his eyes closed and elbows on the table, pressed his hands against his temples.

_No; he could not let this happen to Merlin. If all magic was truly bad, why had Merlin saved him – with his magic? Merlin, the bumbling idiot, could never hurt a soul. He could have killed me any time this past year and a half, but he hadn't. _

He had to save Merlin.

He could at least try to make his father see reason, like he had tried and failed to when he pleaded his father to let the Druid boy go. It was better to try something rather than remain seated and twiddle his thumbs into the odd hours of the night. Maybe he could change his father's mind –

But he quickly disregarded these thoughts. He knew his father well, and when his father said something, he would never go back on his word. He had tried to talk to his father the moment Merlin was thrown into the dungeons.

But his talk didn't phase Uther one bit.

* * *

Morgana was sitting at her mirror, secretly grinning to herself. Her plan had worked well. Merlin had somehow always been there, following her, ruining her plans. It wasn't until Morgause told her about his secret that it finally made sense.

It was _so_ _easy_ exposing Merlin.

She did feel a little guilty exposing one of her kind, but rather that than let thousands of other just like her die. Right? Now everyone in the entire court knew of Merlin's secret, including Uther and Arthur. And with him gone, no one else would be able to stop her.

She felt invincible.

She heard a rustling sound and turned around. A person in a familiar velvety textured cloak had entered the room and was smiling at her.

"What are you doing here? Last time you were here you were nearly caught by Uther and his men," spoke Morgana as she stood up. Worry lined her voice as she spoke to her sister.

"I thought you would like a visit from me. Your plans have succeeded so far and I am pleased," she replied.

Morgana couldn't explain the joy that suddenly leapt through her heart. "I was not going to let you down... after what I had done…" she choked on her last words and thought of all the times she had failed her sister.

Both of them were startled when they heard a knock at the door. "My lady?" a timid voice called.

"Gwen." Morgana hissed in annoyance "I'll get rid of her." Morgana quickly motioned to Morgause to stand behind the door as Gwen opened it up.

"Do you need help with anything else, My Lady?" said Gwen, looking around. Everything was in order, and Morgana was already in her night clothes.

"No, I'm good right now, Gwen. That will be all," she said, look at Gwen's face. It was then that she noticed that there were circles under her tired eyes. "You should get some sleep," added Morgana as she smiled at Gwen and motioned her to the door.

"Thank you," said Gwen as she curtsied and walked out of the room, down the torch lit corridor and around the corner.

Gwen was glad that she was finally finished with Morgana because she needed to talk to Arthur.

* * *

Arthur jumped up from his chair when he heard an unexpected knock on his chamber door.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Come in," Arthur said, looking up. Arthur half expected it to be Merlin; he usually came in around this time to light the fire - but it wasn't and he felt a pang of sadness run through him once more.

The door opened revealing a tired Guinevere. She slowly walked into the room and faced Arthur.

He looked at her with a perplexed expression. _What is she doing here? Isn't she supposed with Morgana right now?_

"I was just checking on the fire…" Gwen quickly responded, though that was not her true intention for seeing Arthur. "I lit it a while ago and I was just coming to make sure that it was still burning." Her tear filled eyes quickly avoided his as she looked down at the floor.

Arthur sensed Gwen's distress. He saw through her failed attempt to keep a straight face and her pathetic excuse and he knew he had to comfort her; he never liked to see her like this. He quickly got walked over to her and embraced her. She hugged him back and let her emotions take over as she cried in his arms.

After a few minutes of crying, she raised her head and said between the sobs that still came, "You… have to… do something… about this…."

Arthur looked at her tear strewn face, wishing that he could do something. "You know I can't," he said, his voice barely audible.

"Please… I'm begging you… I can't just... stand by and… watch him die!" her sobs grew louder, and she tried to muffle them in his chest.

He patted her on the back softly and said, "I'll try, but you know my father… once he says something, he never goes back on his word."

"I don't care…" said Gwen in a louder voice, "You… have to do… something." She pulled away from his warm embrace and looked him in the eye.

Arthur sighed. "Go get some rest, Gwen, and I will talk to my father."

"Thank… you," Gwen said, her voice still shaky from her crying.

Gwen turned around and left the room and he could still hear muffled sobs as she walked down the long corridor.

Arthur had to talk to his father. He walked briskly out of his chamber, down the torch lit corridor. He remembered all too well the day when the Goblin possessing Gaius told him Merlin's secret and he had arrested him - in this very corridor. He chuckled to himself – how stupid were he and his father? Time and time again, Merlin had revealed himself to them and somehow he would always be proven innocent. Except this time, he had preformed the magic right in front of them and that was his biggest mistake.

Arthur soon found his way to the Great Hall. Two guards opened the doors and when they saw Arthur, they let him in. His footsteps echoed off of the stone floors as he walked up to his father who was sitting at the head of the table, probably looking at important documents.

Uther looked at his son. From his hard expression, Arthur knew that this conversation would not go well.

"What is it that brings you here at this hour?" Uther asked, breaking the silence.

Arthur spoke mechanically. "I have come to talk to you about Merlin."

"What about him?" Uther said without much thought as he looked back at the papers he was working on. He remembered the day before when Arthur had tried to make him change his mind. It infuriated him Merlin, his 'most trusted ally in the fight against magic' had actually turned out to be a sorcerer himself and angered him that Arthur cared so much about him, that stupid simple servant boy.

Arthur suppressed the anger he felt towards his father at that moment. Uther was not going to make this conversation run smoothly. "He saved my life… he certainly does not deserve to be executed for what he has done." Although Arthur was trying to hide the emotion that hung in his voice, his voice betrayed him and it broke midsentence.

"He has used magic, and now he must pay the price," Uther said plainly. He'd dealt with sorcerers like this one before. They were all the same to him.

_Calm down, Arthur_ he found himself repeating over and over again to himself.

"He's different…" Arthur paused and thought for a moment and he spoke again, choosing his words carefully, "He could have killed me numerous this past year, but he didn't. Certainly not all those who practice magic are evil." Arthur felt the rage inside of him building up and up. What had made his father hate those who used magic so much?

The King looked up at his son with anger. "You have never seen how evil magic is really is because I have eradicated those who use it." Uther's eyes were filled with hate, his words, venum. "Before the Great Purge, users of magic were evil. They used magic for their own ends. Once you know one sorcerer, you know them all." Uther's piercing eyes looked into Arthur's. He hoped that Arthur would just leave it at that.

Arthur could not contain his fury towards his father any longer. "That is not true! Do you even remember when I went out in search of the Morteaus flower? It was magic that saved me!"

"Yes," Uther said coolly, "And it was also sorcery that had almost cost you your life," Uther retorted. "I cannot afford to lose you Arthur." Uther's voice was calmer when he added in his last statement before his tone became more severe. "What has he done that has made you feel so obligated to him? He's just a simple servant boy! When he's gone, I'll just get you a new one."

"Father, he saved my life," Arthur made sure that he emphasized every single one of his words. "He does not deserve to die."

"He has broken the law! The penalty for those who use magic is death. I will have **no** exceptions."

"Then the law is wrong." Arthur said firmly.

"I am speaking to you as the King," his voice rose, emphasizing every one of his words. "The law is still intact, I will allow no exceptions. He is to be burned at the stake tomorrow morning. Because of your inexcusable behavior, you are not to talk to the boy or I will have you restrained. Is that clear?"

Arthur scanned his father's face. It was filled with anger, hate. It took Arthur a moment to respond.

"Yes, _Sire_," Arthur said with hate. What had made his father loathe those who use magic? Maybe Gaius, the King's confident, could tell him. Arthur turned and hurriedly walked out of the room; it was getting late and he wanted to ask Gaius a few questions before he went to bed.

* * *

Gaius was sitting at the table in his chambers eating his dinner alone when heard knocking at his door.

"Come in," answered Gaius whose voice was hoarse and sounded worn from the years it had been used.

Arthur entered and saw Gaius seated at a table. Unlike his own chambers, Gaius's room was neat. A fire was lit and its flames gave the warmth to the room. Arthur walked into the room and sat down on the bench opposite of Gaius's.

Arthur hesitantly looked at Gaius who looked like he had gotten several years older within just a few days. The wrinkles on his face were more prominent, and he had huge, dark bags under his eyes.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour, Gaius… I'd just like a question answered," Arthur began, uncertainly.

Gaius didn't look up from the soup he was eating. Once he finished another spoonful, he responded to Arthur in a tired tone.

"Is it about Merlin?" Gaius asked, and his voice broke on Merlin's name.

"No…well… sort of," Arthur stuttered, "I would just like to understand…. Why does my father hate magic so much? He's always told me that people who used magic were evil, but I definitely see no evil in Merlin. What has made his so fearful of it?"

Gaius looked up at Arthur. His aged face was furrowed sadness. Gaius pondered Arthurs question for a moment as he decided the best way to answer it. Gaius remembered the promise he made to the King about never letting Arthur know the true circumstances of his birth. But it made no difference now- Merlin was going to die, and the great destiny, along with him.

"First, please swear to me that you will not do anything rash or tell anyone about this conversation after I have answered your question." His weary eyes looked into Arthur's with intensity.

"I swear that I won't," replied Arthur, with uncertainty.

Gaius kept a close eye on Arthur's emotions as he started to answer his question. "Do you remember the time when you almost killed you father, but Merlin stopped you?"

The day he almost killed his father was not easily forgotten. "Yes… Yes I do." Arthur thought back to that painful day. "He told me then that the images that I saw were only created by Morgause, the sorceress."

"Yes, but that was not true." Gaius looked at Arthur's expression. Arthur's puzzled face froze in its tracks.

"He lied to me." Arthur felt betrayed.

Gaius sensed that Arthur was extremely disturbed and quickly replied, "He was trying to protect you."

"He should not have lied to me." Arthur's voice rose. How could Merlin, of all the people in the world, lie to him? He trusted him…

"He only said that to protect you. He knew that you would never forgive yourself if you killed your father. That was only why he told you that."

Arthur heard the wisdom in Gaius's words and saw the truth in them. He listened to his next words intently.

Gaius continued: "Your mother, Ygraine, could not conceive a child. Although Uther loved her dearly, he knew he had to have an heir."

Gaius made sure that he left out the part where Uther conceived a child, Morgana, with Viviane.

"Desperate times called upon desperate measures, and Uther called upon his most trusted adviser, Nimueh. Nimueh was a High Priestess of the Old Religion. She used very powerful magic so Ygraine could conceive. Uther did not know the consequences, however. The rule of the Old Religion states that for a life to be created a life must be taken. Nimueh didn't want to upset Uther with this knowledge, so she left soon after she preformed the magic.

"Ygraine was getting weaker and paler by the day. When she gave birth to you, she was near death. She only lasted long enough to name you as she died with you still in her arms.

"Uther's heart was broken. His only love was now dead. He asked several other sorcerers what the cause of her death had been and they told him all told him it was by magic. They then told him the rule of the Old Religion. Uther was furious that Nimueh had not told him this. He wanted to make her pay; he wanted to eradicate every sorcerer in his kingdom to avenge his dear wife's death. That was when the Great Purge started."

As Gaius finished speaking, he continued to look at Arthur. Arthur expression was that of confusion. He was angry at his father for being such a hypocrite and at the same time he was sympathetic towards him. His father had begun killing sorcerers out of a broken heart.

And that was what had set him apart from his father. Unlike Uther, Arthur would never let his anger – his fury – blind him from all reason, from seeing the truth. Uther's anger towards the sorceress, Nimueh, had increased throughout the years as his hate of magic was fed by sorcerers who attempted to harm the kingdom. Arthur remembered what his father had told him earlier that day – _Once you know one sorcerer, you know them all_ – but that simply was not true. Arthur sat there, pensively, and probably would have continued to sit there had Gaius not spoken up.

"It's late now Arthur. You need some sleep," he spoke kindly.

Arthur directed his attention back to the present.

"Oh, yes…Thank you, Gaius… I really appreciate you telling me this."

Gaius nodded and went back to eating his dinner.

Arthur stood up and made his way back to his chambers. He went to bed and soon sleep came over his troubled mind.

* * *

A bright light shown through the cell's window on his sleeping face.

It woke him.

He sat up, leaned against the cold stone wall and stared at the straw covered ground. His stomach rumbled – he hadn't had a good meal in a few days.

He glanced at the sunlight that poured into his cell through the bared window and thought back to the conversation he and Gaius had had the night before, the first night he laid there.

-_**Beginning of Flashback**_-

_Merlin heard footsteps approaching his cell. He froze out of fear, but relaxed when he heard the comforting voice of Gaius._

_"Hello, Merlin…"_

_Merlin looked at Gaius._

_"I was set up."_

_"What are you talking about, Merlin?"_

_"The dagger… It bared the sigil of the Blood Guard…I was set up...Morgana and Morgause wanted me to be seen in front of the entire court using magic. It was a test…"_

_With that, Merlin turned his head towards the moonlight that shone through the bared window and continued to stare at it in a daze-like state. "Isn't the moon beautiful tonight? Tomorrow it will be full."_

_Gaius looked at Merlin with disbelief._

_It was a few moments until Merlin broke the silence. His gaze fell upon Gaius. "She wanted me to kill him," his voice broke._

_Gaius asked pleadingly, "Why, Merlin… Why you have you not tried to escape?"_

_Gaius knew full well what Merlin was capable of. He knew that Merlin had escaped from the dungeon before; what had him confused was why Merlin hadn't tried to escape this time. _

_Merlin eyes lowered from Gaius's and he bowed his head. His eyes wandered off into a corner of the cell. He responded and spoke the words softly, as if he didn't believe them himself. _

_"Why should I? Camelot is my home. It was my destiny to protect Arthur and now I have failed him. If Arthur hasn't come, then I know that he has not accepted who I am…" _

_Gaius's eyes filled with tears, but he held them back, knowing that they would only make it harder for him. _

_"Gaius, I have to face the consequences." Merlin eyes shifted back to Gaius's. The young warlock looked up, straight into Gaius's tear-filled eyes and his face lined with sadness._

_-__**End of Flashback**__-_

Yes, and that was his problem - Camelot had become his home and now he felt no need to escape his fate. The young warlock thought about Arthur. If Arthur didn't accept who he was, then they would not be able to work together side by side like their great destiny had foretold and Albion would never be born.

He had not seen Arthur since the incident and he was to be executed that morning.

_What's keeping him? Is he afraid of me? Angry?_

The warlock closed his eyes and took in a long inhale of oxygen. It was painful for Merlin to know that he was the cause of this. If Merlin had listened to the Great Dragon, this would never have happened.

He should have let her die.

But his young mind could not grasp this thought. It felt wrong to let a friend die. And yes, she was still his friend. Deep down in her stone heart he knew that a small part of the old Morgana still lingered. He had just hoped that the old Morgana would come back. But it hadn't, and now, he doubted it ever would.

Merlin heard boots hitting the stone floor, approaching his cell. He heard a key unlock the cell that held him prisoner and he opened his tired eyes.

_Arthur?_

* * *

_Now you understand what lead up to the event that forced Merlin to use his magic to save Arthur. Quite symbolic, wouldn't you say?_

_If you don't here's what it alluded to: Merlin saved Arthur from the knife that Mary Collins threw at him from the first time Merlin saved Arthur, and that was what brought them together. In this situation, however, it's another person who threw a knife, but Merlin had to save Arthur in front of the entire court. The same thing practically happened, but the result was different; Merlin was caught and tried for treason this time. Now do you get the sentences - "It was so ironic; what had brought them together had now broken them apart. It was a perfect moment of déjà vu."? _

_The man who threw the knife was just a set up so that Merlin would be forced to reveal his magic in order to save Arthur. _


	3. The Inferno

**Title: **Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer: **All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

**Warnings: **This chapter features some bloodshed. You may find it to be a bit depressing.

**Spoilers: **ep3 s1 briefly and a quote Uther says in s1 ep1 and a brief quote Morgana says in s1 ep7.

**Chapter Note: **The lyrics of the song I have quoted have been modified _slightly_. Also, the relationship Merlin and Arthur share is _only_ bromance.

_Here's the next chapter, enjoy! It's a bit over-dramatic, but I hope it's good. Told you this chapter was going to be a shocker! If I made any mistakes, please tell me. I would appreciate comments so I can improve my writing. :D_

_

* * *

_

**The Inferno**

_When my love for life is running dry_

_Where am I to go?_

_And when the world was through,_

_then one by one the stars would go all out,_

_and You and I_

_would simply fly away._

_~ "If" by David Gates ©1971_

_

* * *

_

Merlin heard boots hitting the stone floor, approaching his cell. The young warlock heard a key unlock the cell that held him prisoner and he opened his tired eyes.

_Arthur?_

But it was not Arthur and Merlin's last glimmer of hope faded within him.

"Take him away," ordered the man looking at the cold, stone floor. His voice was hollow and showed no emotion. Two guards walked ahead of the man, and he quickly walked away.

Merlin felt two pairs of strong arms pick him up by the arms and they drew him out of his cell.

As they walked him into the main square, towards his pyre, the young warlock felt many eyes upon him. Many stared at him with confusion, anger…disbelief. _How could be a sorcerer? _Merlin did not seem like the type of person who would harm anything, anyone. It seemed that all he could really harm was himself. His tripping over things and his own feet gave him that reputation.

His bright eyes searched the crowed as wrists were bound to the pyre with rope. His eyes soon fell upon a certain blond-haired man who was sandwiched between two knights. Arthur's head was bowed and he wiped something off of his face before anyone could see. But Merlin saw and a small glimmer of hope formed in his heart. Arthur was not lost. He was not swayed by Uther's gallant talk about how evil sorcerers are and of how every sorcerer was evil. Just that one action Arthur had performed at that moment had given him hope.

And it comforted him to know that his destiny might still live, even after he was gone.

* * *

Arthur was upset, he was angry, he was furious with his father. Drops of liquid started to stream down his cheek and he quickly wiped away the tears before anyone could see them. Crying was a sign of weakness and like he had said long ago to Merlin, _No man is worth your tears_. For his father to order two knights to stand outside his room last night to make sure that he didn't help Merlin escape was wrong, not to mention embarrassing, and having the knights restrain him while he had to watch Merlin burn at the stake was wrong.

Arthur wanted desperately to grab Merlin from the pyre and tell him that he didn't care what he was. He wanted to comfort him… to not see him die. It felt wrong to kill Merlin. Merlin had saved him from the knife and he had killed the sorcerer who almost killed him. It was not right to kill Merlin for saving him – even if it was by magic. Maybe the law was wrong._ When I am King, I will not execute those who use magic for good,_ he thought.

* * *

Uther stood proudly on the balcony as he watched the young warlock being tightly bound to the stake. It was only a matter of minutes before he would give his speech and the pyre would be lit. It would be only a few minutes before was Merlin burned, and once again, the threat that magic had upon Camelot would disappear.

As he waited for the guards to take their places, Uther's thoughts wandered off. He remembered the first day Merlin was appointed as Arthur's servant. Arthur's servant was clumsy, contradicting, and very irritating. Uther remembered when he thought about getting a new servant because he was bothered by the way Merlin spoke to Arthur. He disliked how closely they had grown, like brothers, in the past two years, but decided against getting a new servant when he saw how happy Arthur was with Merlin.

Uther was embarrased that he had once trusted this boy with Arthur's life and called him a 'trusted ally in the fight against magic' when the boy, himself, had turned out to be a sorcerer. This bothered Uther tremendously and Arthur's words from last night echoed through his mind "_He could have killed me in the last year, but he didn't."_

A single question formed in Uther's mind and many other questions sprouted from that one, seemly simple word.

_Why? _

_Why hadn't Merlin tried to kill me or my son? What made Merlin feel so obligated to protecting Arthur? _

The proud expression on the King's face immediately changed into a puzzled expression and he began questioning his anger towards magic. _Maybe those who practice magic aren't all -_ but he quickly disregarded that thought and fury welled up inside him. _How dare Merlin, a simple servant boy,_ _make me think such things! _Merlin was the cause of the bitter feeling Arthur had towards him. Merlin was the cause of the weeping villagers below, crying even before the pyre was lit. Merlin was the cause of the pain he was putting everyone through. He had betrayed everyone, including the King himself, and now he was going to pay.

* * *

Merlin realized that he was crying when a wet liquid began flowing freely down his face. He would have wiped the tears away, but his hands were held fast by the rope that tied them to the stake, and he began to tremble with the fear that engulfed him. Seeking solace, he took in a deep breath and looked up at the bright sky as the warm of the sun dried his wet face. The sky, which was an endless expansion of a magnificent shade of blue, was cloudless and helped him forget what was going to happen. Out of anxiety, Merlin somehow managed to smile slightly.

His gaze lowered to the balcony where Uther stood proudly. He knew what was going to happen now and looked the proud King in the eye while Uther spoke.

The crowd gazed up at Uther as his words resounded off the castle walls. He spoke with conviction and certainty.

"Let this serve as a lesson to all. This boy has been judged guilty of conspiring to using enchantments and magic. And pursued to the laws of Camelot, I, Uther Pendragon have decreed that such practices are banned on penalty of death. For the crime of sorcery, there is but one sentence I can pass."

The young warlock hissed at Uther's words. They were merely for show. The words were empty and they were simply not true.

The young warlock found himself pitying the broken King who killed sorcerers out of a broken heart because it magic was that caused his beloved wife to die. The grief had twisted his very soul and made him into a tyrant. Even towards the end of his life, Merlin felt sympathy towards the King, not hatred.

As the torch-barer neared, the young warlock looked into Arthur's eyes.

Arthur stole a glance at Merlin and he was surprised to see that Merlin was already looking at him. Blue eyes against blue eyes stared at each other for a moment. Then young warlock looked down at his feet and his eyes flashed a brilliant gold. Suddenly, Arthur felt a strange sensation brushed gently against his mind, and he jumped back out of fear. The guards standing next to him looked at Arthur strangely, but supposed that nothing was wrong, and continued staring with little emotion at the pyre that lay before them, waiting to be lit.

But the magic he felt in his mind was warm. It was comforting, it was soothing. It helped him to relax and the lines of anxiety that creased his forehead smoothed.

Merlin looked up from his shoes into Arthur's eyes again and tilted his head slightly in an almost curious gesture. The Prince eyes looked into Merlin's and unusual waves of emotion took hold of him.

_Hello Arthur,_ said a voice in Arthur's head, and he immediately recognized the voice, and that knew that the thought that was projected towards him, belonged to Merlin. Arthur could not only _hear _the young warlock's words but also _feel _the emotions behind them- sorrow, sadness, lost, and yearning- and that weighed down on him.

Arthur had felt this magic before, like when he was in trouble and in need of help. He had sensed the warmth of the magic around him before, but he could not quite remember when and where he had felt it. Now he knew.

Merlin was there. He was always there.

Arthur immediately though the light in the cave when he was searching for the Morteaus Flower- somehow Merlin had conjured up that ball of light. And all those instances where he and Merlin survived impossible situation- Arthur knew it was Merlin now.

A shocked Arthur stood there. All he could do was stand there and Arthur knew he had only a minute left and ask the question he longed an answer for.

_Why did you not tell me, Merlin? Is it because you did not trust me with your secret? _

Arthur saw the young warlock wince as Merlin felt Arthur's rage echo through his and Arthur's mind. As the young warlock was about to respond, the sudden flames took hold of him and Merlin did not want Arthur to watch him die, to _feel _him die. He slowly withdrew from Arthur's mind as the pain began, and Arthur felt his last connection to Merlin disappear.

The young warlock returned his gaze the crowd with mournful blue eyes, eyes that were as blue as the waves of the endless ocean. He stood as the flames began catching on his clothes, there knowing that the faces below were the last ones he would see before the fiery flames rose high above his head. He closed his eyes and thought of the happiness he felt of when he first arrived in Camelot in search of a new life. He thought of when he met Arthur and fought in the marketplace. He thought of Gwen, his mother, and everyone else he knew and bowed his head sadly knowing they would never see him again.

As the every hungry flames devoured his skin he thought of Freya and when he found her and lost her and smiled to himself thinking, _I'll be joining my Freya soon. _

The flames grew higher and his head hung low, his face tight with pain. His mind went foggy, and then the whole world turned black.

* * *

Morgana was looking outside of her chamber window. As she saw Merlin burning at the stake, she felt content. For her to save the lives of others from Uther, Merlin had to die. With him out of the way she would be able to carry out her plans. Morgause would be pleased and that was all that mattered.

She smiled as she watched the pyre being lit.

But as she watched him burn, a troubled look fell upon her face. She felt something, something foreign, something new. It coursed through her body and took hold of her poisoned mind, changing it in ways that made her fearful of the new emotion that enveloped her so suddenly. She didn't know what this new emotion was and the new emotion was _strong_. It overwhelmed her. It overshadowed her thoughts of victory. It made her _feel_ again.

It was guilt.

Why she felt guilty now was a mystery to her - having Merlin killed was the first vital step to her plan. With him out of the way, she would be able to usurp the without any interference. But these old thoughts felt wrong. This new emotion overpowered her previous thoughts. It opened her closed eyes and made her realize that was her friend. It made her realize that Merlin had helped her find herself; he had helped her to finally understand who she really was.

He was a part of her life, whether she like it or not, and she was too blind to notice that. He had made her feel _whole_. And that was the truth she had suppressed for so long. She had been so blinded by her vengeance that she hadn't even bothered to see the truth. It didn't matter anymore that he had tried to kill her. He had only done it to save the kingdom, to save Camelot from total annihilation. She understood and she forgave him.

Morgana was shocked. She'd never felt so terrible in her life. She felt different emotions inside of her conflicting with each other. She felt awkwardly happy about his death and also guilty for being the cause of Merlin's death. Merlin was now dying and she did not feel like she had gained anything. She felt like she had lost something. Something vital to her, something that was irreplaceable.

She had lost Merlin.

Merlin was burning and it was her fault. He was dying because of her and she could do nothing about it. And now with him gone, she felt empty.

It was too late.

* * *

Gaius was hidden among the large crowd. He didn't know why he even came there today – it would be painful to see Merlin die. Merlin, _the son he never had_ as he once stated before. Merlin, the one who had saved him from the very beginning; the one who had saved Arthur numerous times and could give less than a thought about his own life, only that Arthur would live. His old mind remembered when he had given Merlin the magic book he had used when he was a youth and how Merlin's eyes had lit up. He remembered when Merlin had saved him from Nimueh and when he had released him from the goblin's influence. He remembered when Aredian had accused Gaius of sorcery and Merlin had outwitted Aredian and made Aredian look like the sorcerer instead. He remembered the times Merlin and he spent together, laughing, crying, and just sitting together.

Tears clouded his already old eyes, dim with age. Merlin was more than just like a son to him. He was his light; he was what made him feel like he lived for a purpose.

He would never forgive Uther for this and hoped that Uther would soon realize what he had just lost.

* * *

Arthur watched with a horrified expression as the pyre was lit. He watched as Merlin was consumed by the fire as the flames rose higher and higher up into the sky, obscuring Merlin from his view. He saw Merlin face lined with pain but he never did hear any screams. And he was grateful for that.

It seemed like hours before the flames finally died down. And while he watched Merlin burn, something inside of Arthur died. He felt numb and as he walked back to his chambers, he felt angry. He was angry at his father. He wished that he could have done something to prevent Merlin's death, but he could not have. _Why had Merlin not told him his secret before?_ It would not have changed his feeling towards him. He would not have thrown him in prison like he had many times before. He would have understood and kept it a secret.

He certainly would have **not** have told his father.

He opened the door to his chambers and found that they were clean. A new boy was in there, making up his untidy bed. His father must have sent a servant here to clean his room while he was gone. Uther knew that Arthur would not allow him to get a new servant, so he hired a new one while he was away.

This new servant was not clumsy, he treated him with respect. "Sire." he said, slightly bowing to Arthur. Arthur stood there, staring blankly at him, and he felt a gut wrenching sensation.

It was wrong. It felt wrong. This servant boy- the _respect _he had towards Arthur was just _wrong. _

"Go, you're done for tonight," came Arthur's hollow words. All he wanted right now was a place where he could sit in silence.

The new servant bowed again and quickly walked out of the door, leaving Arthur alone in his bedroom.

And as the night wore on, Arthur succumbed to his feelings and cried and soon sleep fell upon him and it was the only thing that gave his grieving soul comfort.

* * *

It was night and all of Camelot was sleeping. Morgana, Gaius, Arthur and Gwen had retired to their chambers long ago, seeking solace in their troubled sleep.

Morgana lay in her bead, moaning in her restless sleep. She kept tossing and turning in her bed and saw disturbing visions in her dreams.

_A brilliant light shown somewhere and a giant bird emerged from the light. As it took off into the starry night sky, it let out a loud, ear-piercing cry that was heard by every living being throughout Camelot—_

Morgana gasped and woke up with her heart pounding wildly against her chest. She looked at her moonlit bedroom just in time to see a dark shadow of a huge bird flash across her chambers as it flew off the night sky. Morgana covered hear ears as she heard its bloodcurdling scream.

She was not the only person who heard its cry - everyone in Camelot heard it, and it woke them, and they were scared.

And those of magic felt a warp in the balance of the world and fear grew in their hearts.

Morgana closed her eyes took in a deep breath. Something was happening. Something big.

And this was only the beginning.

* * *

_Oooo a cliffie! How I despise them and yet I use them myself! I wonder what's going to happen next! Until next time... Oh and, please comment!_


	4. Old Endings and New Beginnings

**Title: **Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer: **All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

**Warnings: **This chapter features bloodshed.

**Chapter Note: **I use a quote to begin this chapter. It belongs to a song which credited.

_Here's the next chapter, enjoy! I'm sorry about the delay… I had loads of homework to do! (Power outages don't help!) I would __**really**_ _appreciate comments so I can improve my writing. :D Every comment I get makes my day :D_

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* * *

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**Old Endings and New Beginnings**

_Have I found you? _

_Flightless bird, jealous, weeping _

_Or lost you?_

'_Flightless Bird, American Mouth' by Iron & Wine_

_

* * *

_

_A large bird flew overhead and its' large shadow fell upon trees as the moonlight shown down upon it. No one knew where it had come from and everyone was fearful of it._

_

* * *

_

It had been a day since Merlin's death and Gaius knew that he had to inform Hunith of her son's death. He was obligated to telling her since, after all, he was Merlin's guardian.

Giaus was packing his bags for the journey to Ealdor. Picking a few items off the old table, he thought about all of the times he and Merlin had eaten there, together. With his unsteady hand he accidentally dropped something. His old back creaked with protest as he clamped his hand onto an edge of the table and picked up the dropped item. Dropping items even reminded him of Merlin. He remembered when he'd have to keep telling Merlin to stop freezing things in midair when something fell. And now, with Merlin gone, Gaius had a tendency for dropping things and Merlin would not be there to prevent it from breaking.

Gaius closed the large bag pack he had packed with provisions and crossing the room, he locked the door to his chambers. He soon made his way to the stables where his white horse, Carnac, was resting. He slowly untied his horse and eased him out of the stables. As he was about to mount him, Gwen walked into the stables and greeted Gaius.

"Hi, Gaius," came a voice behind him.

Gaius turned around. "Hello Gwen," She was curiously looking at him and his horse.

"Ohhh," he said, understanding Gwen's confusion. Gaius looked at his horse and he patted its mane as he spoke. "I won't be gone that long. I'm just going to Ealdor…" he said plainly; he didn't need to finish his sentence because Gwen understood.

"I hope your trip goes well," she replied, politely.

"Thank you, Gwen."

Nodded her head, Gwen as she walked away and disappeared into the crowded marketplace.

Without a backward glance, Gaius mounted his white horse and rode off, past the safe gates of Camelot onto a path that headed directly towards Ealdor.

* * *

Morgana had just dressed and was sitting down, fixing her hair in front of her mirror_. Gwen is supposed to be here helping right now to me to put my hair together._ _What could she possible be doing today?_ Morgana thought as she sighed. She didn't want to cause Gwen any more stress so she decided not to badger her about being late, but this was too much because ever since Merlin's arrest and execution, Gwen had been late.

A sharp tapping noise drew her attention to her window. A small, black bird was banging into the window, desperately trying to get in. She got up quickly from her chair and as she opened up the window and the bird flew landed softly on her window sill. Morgana picked up the little bird and unfastened the string that held a small note onto its leg.

_My Dearest Sister. Meet me in the Darkeling Wood tonight. _

_Morgause_

Morgana smiled. Of course it was her sister. She always sent her notes by bird or came to see her herself. Morgana put the bird onto her table as she searched the room for a quill and ink. She took the small note and below Morgause's note, wrote _I will._ Letting the ink dry for a moment, she then rolled up the note and tied it back to the patient bird's leg. With a little push out the window, the small bird made its way back into the woods to Morgause.

Morgana heard a soft click as the door and turned around quickly. She was in her chair again when the door opened and Gwen came in rushing in. She immediately went to the bed and quickly began to make it up.

"What took you so long?" asked an annoyed Morgana as she continued to style her hair.

"I was out saying bye to Gaius," answered Gwen as she fluffed up the pillows and placed them at the head of the bed.

Morgana was confused. Merlin was gone and now Gaius was leaving? "He's leaving Camelot?"

"No, no, no!" she said quickly as she added, "I didn't mean it that way. He'll be back. He's just going to Ealdor…" Gwen did not need to finish the rest of her sentence just like Gaius hadn't. All of them understood once they were told the first part and then didn't need the words to know what the second part was.

Morgana sighed in relief. At least Gaius wasn't leaving - permanently.

Gwen continued to tidy up the place. Morgana noticed that Gwen looked more energetic than usual. She knew that Gwen was trying to cover up her feelings but she easily saw past Gwen's fake façade and didn't say anything about her sudden apparent burst of energy.

"Did you hear that scream last night?" went on the rambling Gwen, "It was absolutely terrifying! I woke up out of fright when I heard it. What could make such a noise? It couldn't possibly have been human…"

Morgana, who was just putting a few pins in her hair, stopped what she was doing. Her face froze. Of course, she'd heard the cry; it was loud enough, she thought, that just about everybody in Camelot must have heard it. She had felt the anger, the pain, the strength in the cry in much more detail than anyone in the royal household.

Because she was of magic. _It was of magic_. Anyone like her would have felt the same fear and power in the bird's voice when they heard it.

_What kind of bird is it? What is it doing in Camelot? What does it want?_

"Yes. I heard the cry last night. It was quite peculiar," Morgana put a few more pins in her hair before finishing her sentence, "I wondered what it was doing in Camelot."

"I've been wondering the same thing myself…" said Gwen. She had finally finished tidying up the room and started to help Morgana to style her hair. After she finished with Morgana's hair, she curtsied to and left the room.

Merlin was gone. Gaius was leaving. And Gwen was unlike herself-

Morgana had never felt so empty in her life.

* * *

It was fall and the leaves on the ancient trees were turning vibrant colors of the rainbow. The wind had blown a majority of the leaves off the trees, but the ones remaining were a spectacle. It was sunset and the trees cast long, dark shadows upon the ground as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Amidst the trees lay a small village of tents. Smoke rose from campfires and a few children were running about, chasing each other. Men and women dressed in long, draping cloaks were conversing among themselves.

A little girl was walking down the small path that lay in the center of the village. Heading out the village, she spotted some of kids playing a game that involved rocks. She watched them as they looked at some tiny rocks, said something and then threw the rocks swiftly into the air as far as they could. She looked at where the stones landed and supposed that the sticks, which were lined neatly in rows on the ground, marked how many feet the rocks were thrown. It looked like fun so she walked up to the boy who was apparently the leader of the game.

She approached them and looked the leader as she spoke. "Can I play?" she asked, tentatively.

The boy told the others to stop and then he looked her over for a quick second._ Oh, great, it's her again_ thought the boy. She had a reputation for ruining every game she tried to play. The last time she had joined their group, the boy remembered, she had _accidentally _thrown a rock into one of the players face. He knew that she had absolutely no control over her magic and did not want her to ruin the game. Again.

"No. You always ruin it. Go and play with yourself," he said.

"Please," she pleaded walking a step closer to him, "I promise I won't mess up anything…" she found herself saying. She knew that what she said was partially a lie, but she really wanted to play with them.

The boy quickly responded. "I said no. And you know that you can't keep that a promise! Just go… play with yourself - you're keeping up our game and it's getting late!" he yelled to her. Hurt, she contemplated going back home, but she just wanted to be _along_. Crying, she ran into the darkening woods.

It was the truth, but it hurt her- since birth, she had not been able to control her magic. Now she was ten, and she still couldn't to control her magic.

The leaves on the forest floor crunched under her feet as she ran. Dark shadows of the trees around her grew longer and darker as the sun set, and she heard voices behind her calling her, but she ignored them - she just wanted some peace and quiet for once. Sweat poured from her brow as she ran. The voices grew louder and soon they would catch up to her and they would bring her back to the village. But she did not want to go back just yet so she quickly leaped and hid behind a large tree as the people who were searching for her ran right past her.

The girl's breath came in loud pants as she waited for the sound of the boots face away into the distance before starting off in a new direction. As she made her way through more trees, she heard a disturbance and saw the outline of something laying in her path. Because it was dark, she couldn't see exactly what it was but judging by its shape, it looked like a bird; a huge bird – the largest bird she had ever seen in her life.

The young girl had always been fascinated in nature and her name suited her – Sylvia- meaning forest. She had come across many birds in her life, but had never seen one so large.

_What's it doing lying there on the forest floor? _She thought.

She was curious and did not understand why the bird was in such an awkward position. The only way to figure out was to look it over so she hesitantly, she walked towards it and took out her small hand to touch it. The giant bird's head instantly rose from the ground when it heard the soft crunch of the leaves as she approached the bird and it gazed up at her with glowing eyes.

Sylvia suddenly froze in her tracks. She was shocked. She'd seen many birds before, but never had she seen one with such beautiful eyes. Its eyes… they were a glittering gold color and they looked like glowing orbs hovering in the growing darkness. It was obviously a creature of magic, since its golden eyes glowed in the dark; no normal bird had glowing eyes. As she stared into its eyes, she suddenly had the inclination to do whatever she had to do to save the birds life. It was an odd feeling and she didn't know why she felt so attached to the bird.

The young girl cautiously walked up to the bird and knelt down beside the bird on a blanket of leaves and started to check the bird over. The exhausted bird didn't even try to reject her soft strokes as she searched it feathers, looking for any evidence of an infected cut. Soon, her small nimble hands found a sharp arrow which was firmly lodged into its wing - it had pierced through the bird's tender flesh and was hanging out of both sides of the wing. The young girl knew that she had to take it out or the bird would most certainly die. She never liked doing this part, but knew that the bird's life depended on her and she was not going to let it die.

She carefully pulled the arrow out and her small hands became covered in warm blood. The irritated flesh around the wound trembled as she pulled it out. All of a sudden, the bird let out a single ear-piercing cry and she instantaneously covered her ears, blocking out what she could of the sound, with her bloody hands. The people who were searching for her heard its loud cry and they hurried in the direction of the noise because they were fearful of what might have just become of the girl they were searching for.

But as they arrived, they saw the girl, apparently unharmed, slowly backing away from something that was screeching. In front of her was a larger-than-life bird that was writhing in pain on the forest floor. The bird was emitting long, pain filled cries as it tossed and turned violently on the ground.

One of the men walked up to the scared girl. He took her by the arm and slowly led her back to the safety of the other men who were standing about ten feet away from the bird. Through his mind, he told the others that he would be back soon because he was just bringing her back to the village. The girl and the man left, hearing the leaves crunch below their feet and the antagonized screams of the bird slowly fade away into the distance as they made their way back to their village.

The remaining men surrounded the creature and watched the bird's shape seemed change its size and its form by the moonlight. _It must be a trick of light_ a man thought – but it was not. Between its endless cries of pain, they watched in horror as the bird's body slowly elongated and as its wings became two long limbs. Its head changed size and became larger.

Within minutes, the bird had completely changed its form and the loud bird calls they had heard were replaced with low moans.

The men stared at the figure that lay on the ground with disbelief.

It was a boy.

A boy on the forest floor lay on his side moaning and not to be moving.

The sounds emitted from the boy's lips haunted their ears. By the moonlight, the men could see a as a dark fluid flowed freely from a gaping wound in the boy's left shoulder down the boy's barren back and onto the leaf covered ground, staining the yellow leaves and covering them with his warm blood. His skin shown a deathly white in the moonlight and the boy's already white skin seemed to get paler and paler as blood continued gushing from the gaping wound.

The men knew that if the boy did not have immediate medical attention that the boy would soon bleed to death.

One of the men took off his cloak, knelt down onto the ground and put it on the young boy's thin body. He told the other men through his mind he was going to take this boy back to the village with them because of his wound – the boy would never be able to survive outside in the open like this with such a serious injury.

They did not know who he was, but one thing was certain: The boy had magic – no nonmagical person would be able to deal with such a large change within their body. Shape shifting was not an easy feat – it required a lot of mental practice – and those who had the ability were few and far between. They also knew in this state, he could not harm them. The men agreed as one of them carefully picked up the limp, thin boy and the whole group headed back towards the village.

* * *

Back in the village, the group of men from the forest had brought the injured boy into one of their tents. A tiny fire lit the small tent. The pale boy kept muttering strange things in his sleep as the men talked to each other. Most of it was incomprehensible, but some of the men made out words such as 'they're coming' 'it's going to happen'.

A woman was sitting in a wooden chair, right next to the boy's bed. On a small table were several ointments and instruments used to stitch and heal wounds. She spoke to the men about the boy's condition.

"You were lucky to have found this boy. He would have bleed out and died there within a few hours. Unfortunately, the arrow has gone through all of the muscle, tissue and bone. I'll be able to heal the skin; I cannot however, save the torn tendons. He will live- but not without a price. The boy's arm will be useless for the rest of his life."

One of the men who had on a long, black cloak, spoke. "Thank you, Elthia for caring for this boy…Please do whatever it takes to make sure he lives."

"What makes you feel so _obligated _to saving this boy, if I might ask? You've never seen him before, I recall…" she looked at the man, curiously.

The next words from the man's mouth were jumbled and he did not speak with conviction this time. "There's something about him… I don't know… I can't really explain it."

"I, too, feel the same way… I also have this strange obligation towards the boy…" she said as she headed back towards the bed and redressed the boy's wound and slowly began humming a long forgotten spell for healing.

* * *

_Sorry about some of the confusion in this chapter and the wait. I hope that this chapter wasn't too boring. I wrote this chapter and had to edit it like 10 times. (Yeah, that's what I get for staying up into the odd hours of the night. That's one thing about fanfics - once you start, you feel obligated and guilty if you don't publish fast enough!) I guarantee that there's a lot more in store… the next chapter will be __**a lot **__more interesting and I'll have it posted within a week!_

_*Note to Self* Power outages do not help when you are trying to meet a deadline._

_Please review! :D _


	5. Awakening

**Title: **Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer: **All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

**Chapter Note: **I was going to make the ending scene funny and then the plot bunnies took over… see what they did!

_I knew that I couldn't just leave you on such a boring note, so here's the next chapter, enjoy! Every comment I get makes my day :D_

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**Awakening**

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* * *

**

_Pain. Pain. And yet, more pain. The worst he had ever experienced._

_He was being consumed by the hungry flames. _

_He was burning again._

_

* * *

_

It was day and Gaius had just arrived at the small village of Ealdor. Unmounting his horse and tying it to a tree, he walked into the village and headed directly towards Hunith's small house.

_Knock, Knock_

Soon, a woman answered the door.

"Hello Gaius! I haven't seen you in ages." came her surprised voice. "Come on in," she said as she led him into her house.

Gaius followed her and they both sat down on chairs which were in the center of the room.

They talked for a while, by the fire, about how their lives were going and what was happening in each of their villages.

And then the question that Gaius was dreading the most came.

"How's Merlin?"

Gaius's expression wavered for a quick second but in that short amount of time, Hunith sensed that something was terribly wrong.

"Gaius, I know that you haven't come all this way just to tell me how you are doing. What is it that you really wanted to tell me?" Hunith knew that Gaius was hiding something and that he was going to only tell her at the last moment. The last time she'd seen Gaius was when he had helped to smuggle Balinor out of Camelot - Gaius had stopped by her place while making his way back to Camelot.

"Hunith… there is something I have to tell you." he watched her carefully as he continued to speak. "Your son, Merlin… He was found out…" his voice was soft and soothing, but his voice betrayed him and he broke in the middle of the sentence, right in the middle of Merlin's name.

Hunith's body froze. She knew that her son's secret being revealed was possible, but she never could imagine it would happen. The words that came from her lips were said with sadness.

"He's dead?"

"Yes…"

Just that one, simple word felt like a knife to her heart, she bowed her head and started to cry. He walked up to her and sat next to her; he tried to comfort her. He understood her loss because Merlin was like a son to him. He could not weep anymore – he could cry no more. He had wept when Merlin was found and had cried his heart out long after he was executed. He could not weep because if he started, he knew that he would not be able to stop.

She had known since Merlin's birth that he was special - _gifted _as she once told him. He was her son, her only son. Now both he was dead because he was born 'of magic'. She had disliked Uther from the very beginning, but now, she hated him vehemently.

But the hate in her broken heart could not sustain itself. The grief overshadowed her anger and soon she found herself crying. And soon the crying turned into weeping, and the weeping, sobbing. At least she knew that her husband was still alive, somewhere out there.

Except Balinor wasn't and she did not know that he, too, was also deceased. Gaius had purposely not told her of her husband's death because he knew that tell her it would only make it harder for her to cope with her grieve more.

Long into the night she wept in Gaius's arms. The grief tore at her soul and formed a permanent scar in her heart.

A mother's love for her son cannot be replaced.

* * *

_He wanted to open his eyes, but a heavy weight prevented him. His breathing was labored. His body felt like it was on fire. He wanted to move, but he couldn't. He heard a few people talking in the background. Their voices came out fuzzy but he could make out some of their garbled words. _

'… _he __will live… not without a price… his arm will be useless.'_

_Who was that speaking and whose arm would be useless? He'd never heard that voice before. He tried to listen to the rest of the words, but the weight that pressing against him grew heavier. _

_He slowly slipped back into the unconsciousness._

_

* * *

_

_It is time_, Morgana decided impatiently as she sat on her bed, rocking back and forth. It had only been an hour since Gwen left, but she needed to escape the accursed castle and all the misery that lay there. Morgana quickly got up and put on her long, red cloak that billowed out behind her as she walked down the corridors. She easily evaded the guards by taking a secret route which she had been taking every time she met with Morgause, and crept out the castle unaware. In the stables, she untied her horse and mounted it and guided it as she rode into the dark, moonlit forest. It was not long before she rode into the familiar clearing. Morgana quickly unmounted her white horse and tied it to a nearby tree and waited anxiously for her sister's arrival.

"Hello, sister. It is good to see you again," spoke Morgause as she appeared from behind a tree and walked towards her sister.

"And you too. What is it that you have in store this time?" Morgana asked. All signs of apprehension faded from her face when her beloved sister appeared. Morgause was the _only _one who really understood her feelings and it comforted her to know that she did not have to hide all of her secrets from everyone. She and Morgause had planned Uther's downfall many times before, but somehow, their plans had always thwarted by some unseen force.

Morgause flashed a smile at Morgana. "Ahhh. It is a surprise."

Morgana looked at her sister curiously. _What sort of surprise? _Morgana wondered. Uther being dead was the only thing she really wanted and she had to wait a while until her wish was fulfilled.

She heard a rustling of leaves behind her and quickly turned around. Standing in front of her were two hooded figures. As they pulled down their hoods to reveal their faces, a huge smile spread across Morgana's face.

"_Mordrid! Alvarr!" _She gasped. It had been ages since she had seen any one of them.

_Hello, Morgana. It is nice to see that you are in good health_.

Morgana felt the familiar touch of Mordrid's voice as it filled her entire mind. She could not contain her happiness and took a single step forward and flung her arms around him.

"Where have you been all of this time?" She said, to Alvarr, still embracing Mordrid.

"I met up with the boy in another Druid camp while I was seeking refuge from Uther." He spat out Uther's name like it was something vile. "Mordrid's been with me for only a few weeks," he said, nonchalantly.

"This is definitely a surprise! I'm so happy to see both of you. Why have you come here?"

Morgana's heart warmed as she heard Mordrid speak.

"To tell you something, Morgana. Alvarr and I have been translating the old runes. In the prophecy, there is a man named 'Emrys.'" Mordrid said aloud, which he rarely ever did. "Have you ever heard of him, Morgana?"

Morgana shook her head.

"He will be the only person to stop you." Mordrid continued, "You know Emrys, and you have faced him many times. Being the coward he is he has never shown himself to you. You know him by a different name though."

Morgana's forehead wrinkled with confusion and her eyes shown with fury. She remembered meeting different sorcerers in various Druid camps, but none of them said their name was "Emrys." And she had never faced another sorcerer before…

"And who may this person be?" Morgana asked.

"The boy, Merlin."

"Merlin!" she said and stumbled backwards, "He is dead, Mordrid and Alvarr. You don't have to worry," she grinned. "He was burned at the stake just a few days ago. I watched him firsthand."

"I believed him to be very much alive," Mordrid spoke with conviction. Hearing those strong words come from the mouth of a person so young seemed wrong. They sounded more like they had come from a mature person.

Morgana grin faded. She had personally _seen _Merlin being burned at the stake. How could he possibly still be alive?

"How?" Morgause asked unexpectedly. She knew that a sorcerer who can still be alive after being burned was extremely powerful.

"I felt a few days ago a warp in the balance of the world. I assume that you must have also."

"Yes, I did… But what could _Merlin _possibly do? He can hardly walk up the stairs without tripping!" Morgana's said skeptically.

"He does that only to hide himself. He is far more capable of performing magic than you are right now. He doesn't know the true extent of his powers however."

"What can we do to stop him?"

"With a sorcerer so powerful, we need many others in order to defeat him. Alvarr and I are going to recruit the most powerful Druids from every camp. With the help of a magic, and Cenrid's men, we will be able, without a doubt, be able to defeat Uther's army… Dealing with Emrys is a different matter. Leave that to me and Alvarr. We will stop him." Modrid replied, and flashed one of Morgana's favorite sly grins

Morgause nodded in agreement and spoke: "Let the battle for Camelot begin."

* * *

_Something was being rubbed onto his left shoulder and it hurt. Whatever was being rubbed into it was hurting it. It _had_ to stop._

He grabbed the hand that was rubbing the paste on his shoulder and opened his eyes. That was not a smart idea. A sharp pain went through his left arm. Warm blood started to stream down his arm where a gash lay, healing. He cringed in pain as he accidentally ripped open the gash and he cradled his bleeding broken arm. His head also throbbed and he closed his eyes in pain. He opened them up again to see who was putting the ointment on his arm.

_Where am I?_

He noticed that he was inside of a small tent and a fire was lit, casting shadows on him and a woman who sat beside him on a stool next to the bed. She was staring back at him with fear.

_Who is she? Why is she so scared?_

He watched, almost in a daze, as she looked down at his hand, now dripping with blood that was running down his left arm. His right hand still had a firm grip her wrist.

_Ohhh._

He let go of her wrist and stared at her with a curious expression. His headache grew to an unbearable level and he closed his eyes hoping that it would help him to deal with the pain. His head was hurting a lot. It was making him dizzy and he couldn't think straight and the blood which was now flowing down his arm and it made him tired.

He heard the sound of feet on the ground as the woman got up from her stool and ran out of the tent. It was only a few minutes before he heard more leaves rustling outside the tent and he guessed that more people were coming in.

Fear gripped his heart and he sat up instinctively, ready to defend himself, but no sooner did he sit up did the headache worsen. He took a quick glance at the men standing before him before he bowed his head and cradled his bleeding arm.

_Where am I? Why can't I move my other arm? Who are these people? What do they want?_ He thought through closed eyes.

The men watched the boy, whose pale skin continued to lighten. The boy looked like he was going to pass out again and the men watched in horror as the blood dripped from the boy's arm onto the clean bed. The boy heard someone mutter a few words, but he could not make them out. His mind was growing foggier by the minute. His tired body began to sag and his head started to fall backwards onto the pillow. He heard a person nearing him and felt an arm wrap around him, preventing him from falling over. He shivered a little at the warm touch and looked up at the person, with exhausted eyes.

It was the woman again. But this time, she had a jar of liquid in her hand.

"It will make the pain go away," she spoke as she extended her other hand.

He studied her for a moment and then hesitantly took the small capsule from her extended hand. When he took the small capsule in his right arm, his left arm flopped lifelessly onto the bed. He stared at his useless arm in horror. _What had happened to my arm? _But that didn't bother him too much at the moment. The first thing he needed to worry about was not falling asleep again and hoped that this capsule contain something that would both help to alleviate the pain and stop the horrible headache. The men watched the boy as he put the small capsule up to his lips and drank it. It felt nice going down his throat and almost instantly and his headache disappeared. The pain in his arm decreased, although the blood still flowed freely onto the bed. At least he could think more clearly now.

He looked back up at the woman gratefully.

"Thank you," he said in a tentative voice.

She nodded her head as she stepped away from him and got a long, woolen cloth which was sitting on a table in the corner of the room. She took the long strip and tied it tightly around the boy's bleeding arm. It would help to stop the bleeding, but she knew that she'd have to reapply the ointments later to aid in the healing process.

The petrified boy turned his attention back to the men in long, draping cloaks as the woman finished tying the cloth and walked away from him. The men looked at his frightened eyes and saw depth in them. They saw not only the gold but also the emotions that shown in them. They saw loss, they saw pain, and they saw fear and confusion in his tired eyes. The Druid's accepted the boy because he was of magic, just like they were. But at the same time, they were fearful of the powerful aura around the boy because they did not know what magic this boy was capable of performing.

The boy continued to stare back at the men. He did not know who these men were or where he was and he knew that he did not have enough energy to protect himself. He felt like he had lost something, something vital, but he could not remember what it was. And as he was staring at the men, he was suddenly jolted into the past.

_A King was standing on the balcony of a castle… A crowd of people were surrounding him… A man with a torch appeared… he realized that he was tied tightly to a pyre… the man with the torch came closer to him… he struggled against the bonds that held him to the pyre… but to no avail… the fire was lit and he felt it catching on his clothes his burning flesh…_

The men watched in horror as the boy stared back at them in catatonic state. His unblinking golden eyes seemed to glaze over as he stared at them and his breathing became labored. They wanted to help him, but somehow, they could not get any closer to the boy. Some unseen force held them fast in their places.

A few minutes later, the boy seemed to return back to his senses. The boy started to blink his eyes again, but he was now shaking and his cold body was covered in clammy sweat. They watched as the boy closed his eyes pulled up his knees, hugging them with his one arm, and bury his head into his knees. And then, they heard him crying.

The men felt the sadness all around them. They felt the sense of loss even more than before the boy had started crying. They now could also _feel_ his pain, but they could not understand the reasons behind it.

_What had this boy been through before he was shot down in the woods? _thought one of the men as he looked at the weeping boy.

One of the men broke the silence and spoke up. "Are you ok?" The man knew that it was a dumb question to ask, but he didn't know what to do and doing something was better than doing nothing.

The boy lifted his head and looked back at him with a tear ridden face. He was still clutching his knees with his one arm.

But no words escaped his silent boy's lips.

Another man started to speak to him, now that boy's attention had been caught. "I was surprised when Elthia told me that you had awoken. I never expected you to wake up so soon. When my men found you in the woods the other day you had an arrow through you shoulder. You had lost a large amount of blood and we were afraid that you were going to die. Elthia here has been taking care of you and she assured us that you would live…"

The pale boy continued to stare at him blankly.

"You must be wondering right now who I am. I am Aluf, leader of this Druid village."

The cloaked man continued to look at the boy. "Who are you?" he asked in a gentle manner, trying not to scare the boy any more than he already was.

The boy's frozen lips started to move and he spoke with hesitation.

"My name… is Emrys."

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed it! I thought you'd like a more interesting chapter…_

_Here comes the evil little Mordrid and his accomplice Alvarr (yes, it's more like Mordrid's leading Alvarr not the other way around)… And ohhh, it's going to get better!_

_The plot in the beginning was a bit slow, but now things are going to pick up a little bit…._

_P.S. All of the names in this fanfic have a meaning to them. They're not just chosen randomly. Go check some of them out if you're curious. :)_

_P.S.S. Thanx to my friend for her brilliant ideas!_

_P.S.S.S. Please comment :)_


	6. Lost

**Title: **Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer: **All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

**Chapter Note: **Sorry about the delay! I had a lot on me schedule this week…

_Here's the next chapter, enjoy! Every comment I get makes my day :D_

_

* * *

_

**Lost****

* * *

**

Aluf moved closer to the scared boy and sat next to him on the bed.

"It's ok, Emrys. You're safe now," he said as he rubbed the boy's sweaty back.

The boy cringed at his light touch and closed his eyes in pain. Pots all around the room burst and the medicine in them poured out all over the floor. The other men in the room jumped back from the boy, terrified.

"I'm sorry," said the boy as he kept muttering the phrase over and over again.

Aluf took his hand off the boy's back. He was used to that happening – his daughter, Sylvia used to all the time.

"You need to get you wound bandaged if you want it to heal faster," he told the boy in a gentile tone as he got up from the bed. He signaled his men to exit the tent and told Elthia to resume dressing his wounds.

Elthia cautiously approached the boy. She had some cloth in her hand and the ointment she had used the day before to clean and heal the wound and placed them in a bowl next to her. As she kneeled by the bedside and applied the solution, the boy hissed, it stung and irritated his torn flesh, but he did not pull away or look at her. When she had finished wrapping the cloth around the injury, she told him that he should get some sleep, and then she left.

Emrys sat there for a while, deep in thought. He couldn't understand how he had gotten injured and how he was found. It made no sense in his jumbled mind. Slowly, sleep crept up on him, and he lied down and put his troubled mind to rest.

* * *

Sylvia decided to check on the boy she had found in the woods and see if he was alright. On the way to his tent, she picked out a dark green cloak for him and headed into the tent.

Inside, she sat on the small stool that was situated right next to the bed and she draped the cloak over her lap. The boy was sleeping and muttering things in his sleep like 'they're coming' or 'it's going to happen today.' As she watched him sleep, she noticed that his skin was extremely pale, due to the amount of blood he had lost and his body was thin. He looked like he was having problems sleeping since he keep tossing and turning and muttering strange things under his breath.

In just a few minutes, the boy opened up his golden eyes. His eyes searched the room and finally met hers.

"Hello," he said softly, sitting up and looking at her. He rubbed his tired eyes and then looked back up at her.

Sylvia looked at him – he was a mess. His hair was untidy and he was extremely pale. "No, that's alright," Sylvia responded and continued, " I'm Sylvia by the way."

He looked at her, and in the same, soothing tone, he spoke his name.

"I'm Emrys," he said. He then looked at his left arm and pulled up the left sleeve to his shirt. Carefully, he started to unravel the cloth that was wound around the injury.

An awkward silence formed between the two of them as she stared at him. _What does Emrys think he's doing?_

"What were you doing in the woods the other day?" Sylvia asked, breaking the silence.

He looked at her briefly with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean?" he said and then continued to unwrap the cloth which was tied around shoulder.

"I found you out in the woods…." She began, hesitantly.

"I don't recall ever being there."

_Does he even remember that he shape-shifted? _Sylvia thought surprised.

"What were _you_ doing in the woods?" he asked her.

"I was just running."

"From what?" he said as he continued to unwrap the cloth. His voice was calm, it had a very soothing affect on her and she instantly relaxed.

Sylvia's face froze and she looked at the ground. She thought of the mean boy who had taunted her the day before.

"They don't like me at all," she murmured to the floor.

Emrys stopped undressing his wound and looked up at her. His golden eyes met hers and the next sentence he said surprised her.

"Don't worry; I'll protect you."

Emrys then pondered what he had just said; he'd heard that phrase before and he felt like he had tried to protect someone before, but he could remember who it was he had tried to protect. Sylvia was shocked also that he would make such a statement.

She watched as Emrys finished untying the bloody cloth and laid it on the bed. He then proceeded to take his right hand and put it on his left shoulder. She heard him say whisper some words, and watched in amazement as his golden eyes glow brighter. Once he took his hand off of his shoulder, she noticed that the wound was all but gone. Only a small red scar remained in its place. He stretched out his arm and smiled.

_Oh my god! How did he just do that? _Sylvia though, alarmed.

He looked up at her and noticed her troubled expression.

"What's wrong?"

"Umm nothing."

She looked at the cloak lying over her lap.

"I just brought this… I thought that you'd like it," she said, handing it to him.

"Thank you," he responded as he got up and put it on.

"It fits perfectly."

"Glad you like it… I better get going now before my dad worries about where I've gone."

"Ok, sure. I don't want to keep you waiting. Can I go outside?"

_Why is he asking me that?_

"Yes you can. In fact, you can go in and out whenever you'd like to," she said, politely.

A small smile crept up on his pale face and he extended his right hand towards her. Sylvia felt like she had finally found someone like her who was the oddball, and she did not feel so alone anymore. She took his hand and together, they walked out of the tent.

It was beautiful outside, the sun was shining overhead, and they walked together on a small path into the heart of the village. And then, he stopped abruptly. Sylvia felt cold sweat form on the hand she was holding and she heard his breathing become more labored, as if he was having troubles getting enough oxygen. She instantly let go of his hand and looked at his face. His bright eyes had somehow dimmed and he looked as if he was in a trance. Sylvia was scared; she's never seen anyone in this state before so she ran to her father for help.

_He was in the village running south … It was dark and an old man was sitting next a fire… a dark shadow behind the man… a knife was raised ready to strike the older man dead…Emrys _had _to save this older man. He just _had _to, no matter what._

Emrys came back to his senses within a minute and found himself on the ground with his head ducked into his bent knees.

_How I get into this position?_ He wondered.

He weakly lifted his head and saw several people surrounding him, including Sylvia. _Oh my gosh… I hope I didn't just scare her… What did she just see?_

He watched as Aluf walk up and bent down to the ground, right next to him.

"Are you ok?" asked the man.

"I… I need to go… I need to…" Emrys stuttered. He had to save whoever that person was he just saw in his vision. He had an inclination that he _had_ to. Nothing was more important than saving this man. And yet, Emrys didn't understand why he felt so strongly about the man. He'd never seen him in his life and the vision could be fake, but Emrys felt something more that told him he had to save him. It was like a sixth sense.

Aluf helped him to his feet.

"You're in no state to go anywhere right now."

"I have to… I need to… I…" stammered Emrys a wave of fatigue brushed over him as he stood up. H stumbled backwards. "I'm ok…"

But Aluf saw him stumble and insisted on taking him back to his tent. Emrys didn't resist; he just let him take him there. Emrys sat on his bed again, looking at his hands and was angry that they would not let him get out of the tent. Elthia appeared with a newly cleaned cloth.

When she went to look at the wound, all she saw was a faint red scar. She looked at him with astonishment.

"How did your arm heal so quickly?" she stammered.

He looked at her, confused.

"I healed it…"

"But that wound you had – it caused an extensive amount of damage. The arrow pierced your skin, went through your bone, and tore the ligaments. How did you heal yourself?"

He looked at her, not understanding why she was all of a sudden so frantic. The arrow had really caused that much damage?

"By magic," Emrys responded simply.

Elthia put down the cloth she had in her hands and walked out of the tent, after all, the boy's wound was practically healed and she had other people she had to help before the night was over. _Who is this boy? How could he have healed such an extensive wound? _She thought as she walked into another tent.

* * *

By nightfall, Emrys got up from his bed. He could still see the fires lit outside, but he _had _to save the person. The person would be in danger soon and he could _not _afford the person to die. He put on his cloak again and walked silently out of the tent.

It was not long before one of the Duids spotted him.

"You shouldn't be out this late," said the person.

"I'll be right back. Don't worry," said Emrys, soothingly.

But the person was worried about the thin boy's condition. As the man neared Emrys, he suddenly fell down. Elthia, who was sitting outside of Emrys's tent, saw the man fall and rushed to his side.

"What have you done to him?" she dememded and looked at Emrys angrily. Checking for the man's, she was relieved when she still felt it.

"He's just asleep," Emrys responded coolly. "I _have _to go now," he said as turned around and began running north.

* * *

It was dark and Alvarr and Mordred soon arrived at a Druid camp. They were soon greeted by a few Druids in the village and were allowed a night's rest. As they were eating with a few of the villagers by a fire, including Sylvia and her father, Alvarr spoke.

"We are looking for any Druid who is seeking to end the rule of the tyrant King, Uther Pendragon," Alvarr began and he looked at the Druids crowded around the fire before continuing, "There is strength in numbers and anyone who joins us is welcomed. Please join us and together, we will be able to free this kingdom of this tyrant king and forge a new one ourselves."

* * *

Gaius was on his way back to Camelot. It was getting dark and his horse was tiring, so he decided to spend a night in the woods. He tied his white horse to a nearby tree and lit a fire. From his bags, he drew a thick blanket and put it on the ground and sat on his temporary bed which was situated next it next to the fire.

He heard a crackling of leaves and knew that someone was behind him. Turning around, he saw three men and one of the men put a sword up to Gaius's back.

"Don't move," he said in a harsh voice as he directed the other men to Gaius's belongings.

Gaius sat still and watched as the men rifled though his bags and stuffed their arms with his belongings. One of the men was desperately trying to untie the Gaius's frantic horse, which kept kicking him and knocking him down to the ground.

And then Gaius saw someone behind the man with the knife. A person was approaching slowly a long, dark green cloak and he had glowing golden eyes. The other bandits turned around when they heard the rustle of leaves and stared at the cloaked man.

"What are you waiting for? Kill him!" said the leader as he turned around, still holding the knife up to Gaius's neck.

But as the men neared the cloaked figure, they fell down to the ground.

The leader looked at the men and then the cloaked person.

"You! You have magic! Get away from me or I will –" But the man stopped as he looked into the cloak person's gaze. The person's piecing golden eyes bore into his and he instantly frozen into place, unable to move.

A sword, which was lying on the ground, was suspended in midair and had a deadly aim at the bandit's heart. A second later, the sword plunged itself through the bandit's back and the bandit fell down to the ground, dead.

Gaius stared at his savior. _Who is this person?_ He looked at the person's height and features, but in the darkness, all he could really see were the person's eyes. He saw the confusion, anger, and the pain in the eyes. Within a few minutes, he realized that he recognized those eyes; he'd seen them somewhere before. But where and who had he know who had those eyes?

And then he remembered. It was impossible though, but he could not stop himself from uttering the name.

"Merlin?" he said, or rather asked, doubtfully.

The cloaked person looked at him. _Merlin? Who's 'Merlin'? I've never met anyone named 'Merlin' before, but why does that name sound so familiar?_

And then Emrys thought of the people in the village. _His _village. It was late and they must be very worried about him.

He looked at Gaius once more before he turned around and ran.

* * *

Mordred and Alvarr were talking still trying to convince people to join their group. So far, only three had joined, but Mordred knew that they needed someone stronger than the people who had just joined. They needed someone with power.

The whole group stopped talking as they all felt a strange sensation as Emrys ran towards their village. Mordred instantly realized he was feeling the presence of powerful magic, the magic that he and Alvarr had been looking for.

From the dark woods, a hooded figure appeared and it came closer to them. Emrys looked at all of the people surrounding the fire and sat down in an empty spot right next to the newcomers.

"Hi…" he said weakly as he looked at the little boy sitting next to him. Emrys was still shaking because of what he had just done. Why had he just killed all of those men just to save the older man he didn't even know? Emrys still could not understand his actions and was a bit confused.

Mordred looked at Merlin with a stunned expression. Why was Merlin talking to him when he had told Merlin last time he met him that he would have his revenge and kill him?

"What?" said Emrys as he stared glanced at Mordred and then looked into the fire. His eyes glittered more as the flames danced before him.

Mordred did not say anything to Merlin, he only continued to stare at him.

Suddenly, Emrys let out a moan and he arched his back. His head bowed into his knees and his breaths came in short gasps as a sudden wave of fatigue grew over him. Mordred knew that Merlin was having a vision – he'd been around Morgana long enough to know - and he wanted to see what Merlin was seeing. Carefully, he placed his hand on Merlin's cold and sweaty back. Merlin didn't even flinch when Mordred touched him.

_A little boy… arm wound bleeding profusely… almost died but Emrys saved the little boy… called himself 'Mordred'_

Mordred sat there, with confusion forming in his mind. Why was Merlin having visions of him in the past? He then searched Merlin's mind because he knew that Merlin was in a weak state; it would only prolong his daze a few minutes more and that didn't bother Mordred.

Mordred slowly eased his way into Merlin's into his mind; it was not barred now because of the state he was in. Inside, he felt Merlin's panic about his unstable magic. He could feel the magic that coursed through Emrys's veins. And then he found the information he had been looking for.

As Mordred withdrew from his mind and took his hand off of Merlin's back, he watched as Emrys's head came up slowly from his lap and as Emrys quickly glanced at the people around the campfire. They all had scared expressions on their faces, but didn't say anything to Emrys.

"I'm… I'm… so sorry… about t-that…" Emrys stuttered as he put a hand to his head and closed his eyes. He was just thinking of the vision he had just seen and began rocking back and forth, trying to calm himself. Emrys he had just seen, in his vision, the boy was sitting right next to him and that was no coincidence. Emrys knew that his visions were being triggered by something, but he did not know what the cause and he was scared of himself.

The little boy continued to stare at him. No emotions were shown, only a blank expression.

"That is ok," said Mordred as he finally decided to speak. He was content.

Emrys knew nothing. He did not remember who 'Merlin' was. He did not remember him, Alvarr or Morganna.

And most importantly, he did not remember about his destiny to protect Prince Arthur.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed that! Evil little Mordred! What will he do next?_

_Until next time!_

_P.S. I kept switching Emrys's name to Merlin because they're practically two people in one. Emrys is the magic in Merlin, and now Emrys is the only one present. Mordred didn't know that until he searched._


	7. Forgotten

**Title: **Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer: **All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

**Spoilers: **Gwen knows about Morgana's magic now. (ep8 s3)

**Chapter Note: **Sorry about the delay! I had a lot on my schedule this week…

_Here's the next chapter. I'm soooo very sorry about the delay. Enjoy!_

_

* * *

_

**Forgotten**

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* * *

**

Emrys didn't understand why this little boy right next to him kept looking at him so strangely. He was worried about what the boy had seen and hoped that he didn't scare him like he had scared everyone else around the fire. But he was more worried about himself and these strange visions he kept getting. He didn't know what the cause of his visions were and that bothered him immensely. The wild magic coursed through his veins and his made him feel uneasy.

Why was his magic so unstable?

Emrys did not feel like he was a part of the community; he felt more like an outsider. He felt like he was a danger to his community because of his unstable magic. And Sylvia was really the only one he could talk to, to be around, because she had almost the same problem he was having with his magic, with the exception of the visions.

She understood him a bit better than anyone else.

He couldn't stand sitting there anymore because of the eyes that bore into his back. He carefully stood up, still shaking, and with one last curious glance at the little boy next to him, he walked back to his tent.

As he sat on his bed, he became lost in his thoughts. His breaths suddenly came in short gasps. Sweat formed upon his troubled brow and his head began ache. Emrys knew what was happening before it did, but he could do nothing prevent it.

He was having another vision.

_An old man in his chambers somewhere… the same old man he had saved… somewhere in a kingdom called 'Camelot'… he must come there to search for the truth…_

When Emrys had finally come back to his senses, he found himself bent over his lap. As he slowly raised his head, had a feeling that someone was looking at him. And sure enough, a small boy was standing there, looking at him.

"Hello," said the boy.

Emrys lifted his head. It was the boy, Mordred again. _Oh God. He just saw me again like that. What does he want?_

"Hi…" he said, stumbling on his words as his breathing returned to normal. "What is it that you want?"

The young boy spoke and his speech and tone surprised Emrys because the words he spoke sounded like they have come from a more mature person. "It is not I who wants something. I know what happened to you outside _and_ right now. I have helped someone like that before and I can help you also."

Emrys's brow wrinkled with confusion. _What does this young boy know about visions?_

"How can I know that I can trust you?"

Mordred smiled at his response. "Come now," he said in a gentle voice, "You would think that one of your kind would tell you such lies?"

The young boy's words confused him; this whole situation made no sense to him.

"Why would _you _want to help me?" he said in a curious tone.

Mordred looked at him and malice showed in his eyes. "You must not have hear my speech earlier. I need people who are strong, powerful, so that together, we, united as one, can defeat the heartless king of Camelot once and for all," he paused and then continued, "I know you have power, and that you are capable of killing the King yourself - it it weren't for your unstable magic. everyone around the fire tonight, and miles around, could feel your magic and the unstableness of it. If you join us, then we will help you with your visions, and together, we will kill the King."

Emrys knew that everyone around the fire had felt his presence and his unstable magic. He just didn't like hearing the truth - it hurt him to know that they knew her was dangerous. And yes, he did consider himself dangerous.

But he did not want to show the boy his weakness, his helplessness.

"What has the King done that has made you so..." Emrys had to think a moment before he found the right word, "revengeful?"

Mordred's face hardened into a blank expression. "He has killed and murdered our kind. He began the great purge and burned hundreds of innocents. He was the one who had you burned at the stake, if you can recall."

As Mordred's sharp words came out his mouth, Emrys cringed. Yes, he did remember the burning part. He did remember waking up and feeling like he was burning. Yes, he did remember the vision he had of the king standing on a balcony and ushering the torch-barer to light his pyre. He remembered and he felt scared; but at the same time, he felt angry at the murderous king.

"Yes, I remember that…" responded Emrys; his voice wavered for a second.

"Then you will help me?"

"I..." Emrys started, "I'll think about it…"

Although Emrys had not given him an actual response, Mordred's voice showed a hint of victory.

"When you have made up your mind, go into the woods tomorrow and walk directly north of this Druid camp. You will meet us in a clearing."

Emrys nodded his head and Mordred gave him one more glance before he left the tent.

* * *

It was later; perhaps about three o' clock in the morning. Mordred and Alvarr put on their cloaks and carefully sneaked out of the Druid camp. Soon, they came upon a clearing and met two people there.

"You have come, alas. What have you found?" asked a familiar voice.

_I have found Emrys, Morgana._

Morgana's smile faded and was soon replaced with a scared expression. Emrys was still alive?

Mordred understood that all of them needed to know the information he had just received. He spoke this time so that she, Alvarr, and Morgause could all hear him.

"Indeed. Emrys is still alive. But, he somehow does not recall the past. It only comes to him in visions."

A slight twinge of fear gripped all of them. Morgauses's eyes widened. _How can this be possible?_

"How can he still possibly be alive? He was burned!" she continued, her voice barely audible, "You must be mistaken," said Morgause.

"He is still alive. I know he is; I sensed his magic a mile away. It _is_ him. But he is different. He does not remember himself as 'Merlin' but rather 'Emrys' and he does not remember any of us."

There was a brief pause before he resumed speaking.

"We must stop him from having the visions so that he does not remember his past. We can manipulate him and with him on our side, we will become invincible."

Morgause spoke up."I know how to stop his visions and instead send them to _us."_

Everyone, including Mordred, looked at Morgause.

"There is a stone I have. It is called the 'Weostan'. If a piece of the stone is broken off and worn, then the wearer's visions will 'disappear.' The larger piece of stone, however, will display the visions the person was going to have. In this case, Merlin's visions may prove to be useful."

"And where is this stone you speak of?" asked Morgana.

"I have it with all of my other things," she said blithely to her troubled sister.

"Good, tomorrow, Emrys will come and tell us whether he will join us or not," Mordred grinned, "And I have a feeling that he will say yes."

Mordred continued, "And remember to call him 'Emrys'."

The group nodded in approval.

It was getting late and Morgana needed to get some rest. Gwen might be suspicious if she kept yawning all day when she supposedly went to bed early.

Morgana hugged her sister and bid her well. She left the clearing, feeling more content than ever. Merlin wasn't really dead, and now the guilt of setting him up faded.

She couldn't wait to meet him tomorrow.

* * *

Gaius arrived back in Camelot late that same night. He put his tired horse back into the stables and walked back to his chambers. Inside, he unpacked his bag and went to bed.

But he could not go to sleep because what he had seen in the woods a few hours ago confused him. How could Merlin still be alive? He'd seen Merlin burned at the stake and he also had Merlin's word that he would not try to escape.

But those eyes were the tell-tale clue. He saw deep in the golden depth, the sadness, the fright, the anguish in them.

Why hadn't Merlin told him that he was still live?

And how did Merlin know that he was in danger? There was no way anyone in Camelot would be searching the woods that late hour or even be searching the woods so far from the border.

He heard a timid knocking at his door and stood up.

"Gaius?" said a quiet voice as the person entered the room.

"Gwen? What are you doing up so late? It must be past two by now," he said, concerned.

"It's Morgana again… I went to check on her and she's not in her room. I didn't know what to do."

Gaius thought for a moment. He remembered when Merlin had told him about Morgana's discussions with her half-sister Morgause in the woods. What was Morgana doing going out so late this particular night? Did _she_ know about Merlin?

"Just keep a close eye on her, Gwen and please tell me if she does anything suspicious." Gaius looked at her tired face. "You need to get some rest. Go to bed now, we can talk about this tomorrow."

"Thank you, Gaius. I'm so sorry for waking you…" said Gwen, sincerely.

"No, no. That's alright. You should bring things like that up to me right away. I should be the one thanking you. Go and get some rest now."

She nodded her head and walked out.

Gaius knew that something was going on and Morgana had something to do with it.

He would have to find out before it was too late.

* * *

_I so, very, very sorry about the shortness of this chapter, it's just setting the stage for something really exciting to happen… I've got loads of homework to do this week so I won't be updating as frequently but I hope that you enjoyed this! Ttfn!_


	8. A Voice in the Darkness

**Title:** Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer:** All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

**Spoilers:** No spoilers!

**Chapter Note:** Dear Readers,

I am sorry about the delay! I decided I did not like how I had written this chapter before, so I redid it. Thanks to my friend for helped me brainstorm, plan and, rewrite this chapter!

_Here is the next chapter. I am soooo very, very, very, very, very sorry about the delay._

_**Thank you everyone for all those great comments (especially Kitty-O)! You make my day. :)**_

**P.S. Is it more angsty? **

_**

* * *

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**A Voice In the Dark**

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* * *

**

Emrys tossed and turned as strange visions and dreams disturbed his troublesome slumber. Most of the visions were hazy, like someone had put a scrim in front of his eyes so he could not see the people in them clearly, and others were surprisingly vivid with people he swore he had never seen before, and yet, they seemed familiar.

The visions soon subsided and Emrys sighed in relief.

But were soon replaced by a moaning.

Coming from inside his head.

Emrys squeezed his eyes together in discomfort.

The moaning grew louder and louder and soon became unbearable and sat up and put a hand to his head.

His ears were ringing with this terribly annoying buzzing sound and then it _hurt_.

_Maybe taking Elthia's potion would help with the pain_, he decided. But as he reached for the potion, his hand stopped in midair, and he froze when he heard something -

_You can get rid of me that easil_y, a small voice echoed inside his head. _Please. Stop it. Just let me come back_, it pleaded.

Emrys was stunned. _I must now be becoming delusional!_ Emrys thought as he tried to shake his head to stop the voice that echoed throughout his mind.

He tried to reach for the potion, but he couldn't. His body was numb and would not move and his eyes had closed on their own accorded.

_Who are you? What do you want? _answered Emrys, wondering if it was a good idea to talk back to the mysterious voice in his head.

_You know who I am. Someone has already told you._

_I am Emrys,_ He replied simply with no doubt in his mind.

_No you aren't. _The voice responded quickly.

_What do you mean?_

There was a momentary silence before the voice replied.

_I'm Merlin… _it said more hesitantly.

_What? _Emrys replied, confused. He was Emrys, and he was quite sure that was his name.

_I think we are the _same _person, _it replied. Emrys could feel the wonder in the voice.

_That is not possible._ Emrys retorted.

The voice responded in a soft tone. _But don't you see? Those visions I keep giving you o-_

_So it is you who has been sending me these terrible visions! _Emrys said, anger immediately replacing his wonder. _I've been suffering all these nights because of _you?

Whatever was in Emrys's head, retreated into the back of his mind, fearfully.

_I was only doing that to show you who I was! I didn't think that talking to you would help!_

_You're right with that… Merlin… _Emrys responded, sarcastically.

_Those visions were of memories my childhood… of my friends…_

_I do not care about _your _friends. I am _Emrys_, and I am not _you_. Stop bothering me and stop sending me those visions! _Emrys shouted as his anger consumed him, and could feel the voice retreat further into his head.

And then there was silence.

Peaceful, delicious silence.

_Finally._ Emrys thought as a tingling sensation came back to _his _limbs and he found that he could move again.

Whatever he had said or done had quieted down the voice in his head. The ringing in his ears stopped, and the headache resided.

He had finally gotten rid of that annoying voice, 'Merlin' it had called itself.

As Emrys sat up and opened his eyes, the first light of dawn peeked through a crack in his tent and shone right in his face. He blinked from the bright light that was blinding his vision and made his glowing eyes sparkle brilliantly.

He needed to get some peace and quiet, he needed to do something that would calm down his nerves.

It would be a perfect time of the day to go for a walk, he silently decided. Taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes, he steadied himself as wave of dizziness suddenly came over him. He carefully made up his untidy bed and then walked across the room and he put on the green cloak Sylvia had given him.

Without a sound, he crept out of his tent and walked through the village.

He could hear the peaceful breathing of people sleeping and envied them, knowing they were not suffering from troublesome nightmares, visions or weird voices in their heads like him.

Dawn's dim light cast long, dark shadows of trees and tents upon the leaf covered ground, and the dewdrops on the plants and fallen leaves shimmered in the light. A few morning birds - some white, some speckled- chirped loudly as they hopped on the ground, searching for worms. A few lucky birds had worms hanging from their small beaks.

A while later, he came upon a small clearing and his already yellow eyes, swimming in magic, briefly brightened as he moved a heavy log into the center of the clearing.

Sighing, he sat down on the log and closed his tired eyelids.

He could hear the calls of the early morning birds resonating throughout the forest, the deer's feet crushing the leaves as they passed by, unaware of his presence, and the wind rustling though the tree's leaves.

He could smell the earthy scent of the ground, the woody aroma of the forest, the early morning dew on the green grass - and it comforted him and brought piece to his troubled mind.

As he sat there, dew formed on his thick cloak, darkening it's forestry color, and it sent shivers down his spine.

He knew he had to get back to the camp soon, but he did not want to leave the calm setting of the forest and continued to sit there with closed eyes.

A loud bird's call startled Emrys, and he opened his eyes. The bird was closer to him than he had expected, and it did not seem scared of him, only curious as it slowly neared him as it looked at the ground, obviously searching for something.

It soon found what it was looking for - a nice, juicy worm, took one more look at Emrys, flew off into the trees, and hid amidst the leaves as it ate its morning meal.

He watched the leaves as they fell from the trees to the ground and landed amidst the already fallen leaves; he saw the sky turn from deep burgundy to orange, and yellow, and other bright colors of the rainbow. He watched the clouds slowly passing by and deer as they walked across the clearing.

He lost himself among the forest's peaceful atmosphere, forgetting all of his worries.

* * *

Time passed as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky. Its golden rays soon woke the sleeping people in the village. Parents rose from their beds and yawned as they crept out their tents, careful not to wake the children, and began their daily activities.

Elthia was already wake because she was gathering medicines for Emrys who she had made a practice of seeing every day. Though he had healed himself, she wanted to make sure that he made a full recovery. She took a small vial filled with a black, liquid substance and placed it in her basket- she had made this draught last night and hoped it would help Emrys to sleep more soundly. She passed a few tents before reaching Emrys's and humming cheerfully to herself, she opened the flap to his tent, expecting to see him there.

But he wasn't.

And as she looked around the tent, she noticed that the bed was made and his cloak was gone.

_Where is he?_ she thought as she dropped her basket on the floor outside the tent, and ran into Aluf's.

"Aluf! Emrys's gone!" she said in a panicked voice as she entered.

Aluf, who was just putting on his cloak, looked up at her with a concerned expression on his face. He knew that the boy was in no condition to be wandering around the woods, let alone unprotected. The last time, Emrys had been alone in the forest, he had been badly wounded in the arm and nearly died because of the amount blood he had lost.

"Send a group of men to find him," Aluf's responded, worry lined in his voice.

Elthia nodded and quickly out of his tent. Going into a few tents, she soon gathered a group of Druid's together and they all went out into the woods to search for Emrys.

Sylvia, who was lying in bed, opened her eyes. The loud noises of people running by her tent woke her from her and she wondered what was going on. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Sylvia got up and peaked outside her tent. She saw a group of people searching for something.

Who are all of these people looking for? Sylvia wondered. Sylvia quickly dressed and exited her tent, determined to figure out what was going on.

She saw Elthia go into several more tents and decided to follow her.

Sylvia kneeled on the ground outside of a tent Elthia had just walked into. She peered in from a small opening in one the flaps.

Inside, Elthia was standing in the middle of the tent, her back to Sylvia, and she was talking to someone. Sylvia could not see much because Elthia was obstructing most of her view.

"The boy, Emrys is gone." Elthia announced. "Aluf requests that you join with a group of men I have gathered in search of the boy."

So that's who they're looking for. Sylvia listened more closely.

"Why is Aluf so concerned about him?" a man responded.

There was a moment of silence. Elthia then spoke, but Sylvia could not hear her soft words.

Obviously, what Elthia had just said did not help to ease this situation. It made it worse, and Sylvia knew it did because as soon as Elthia was done talking, she was quickly answered by a loud shout. "You've seen the power the boy possesses and you know he has no control of it," the man continued, his voice growing louder and louder as he spoke, "He could kill all of us with a flick of his fingers, and you know that! It's good that he's left. It's better for all of us," the man concluded as he turned away from Elthia and headed in the same direction where Sylvia lay. He would have seen Sylvia had she not put down the tent flap.

Sylvia stood up and tidied up the cloak she was wearing. _Why does the man hate Emrys so much?_ Sylvia wondered as she headed back into her tent.

She took off her cloak and slipped back into her bed to go to sleep again.

But she could not sleep because an odd feeling built up inside her.

She was worried.

About Emrys.

And now she could not go to sleep because of that. Sighing, she got out of bed again and hastily put on her cloak.

Sylvia knew that no one would want her in the woods alone, but she wanted to – had to- help find Emrys. She silently ran out of her tent and took a secret path that ran behind the village. After a while, Sylvia stopped running and decided to look in a place she enjoyed going to the most – the small clearing, just south of the village. She had gone there several times to sit to escape the world.

She stopped and peered from behind a large tree, and saw a person sitting on a log in the center of the clearing.

It was Emrys and she could tell it was him because of his cloak.

She watched Emrys sit there with his eyes closed, lost in his thoughts and unaware of his surroundings. Sylvia sighed in relief and smiled because Emrys was safe and she decided to wait a few more moments before disturbing Emrys and leading him back to her Druid village.

And then he crumpled over and fell off the log, his head on his knees and moaned loudly, like something had hit him in the stomach.

But no one but her was present and she was not even near him.

_A woman…in a village not far from his… in a village called 'Ealdor'… she had the answers he needed…_

Sylvia slowly approached him. She carefully touched Emrys to see if he was okay, but he would not respond and instead lay on his side moaning.

Within a few minutes, he ceased his moaning and seemed to come back to his senses.

Merlin could feel someone rubbing his back. Was Emrys gone?

"Wh-where am I?" he asked in a strained voice as he sat on the ground and looked at a small girl. Beads of sweat rolled down his back and face.

Her eyes widened as he stared at her – his eyes were not molten gold anymore but, a deep blue. And his eyes were not calm – they kept darting around the clearing, and there was a hint of unexplainable _fear _in them.

"You're in a clearing in the forest…" She said in a small voice, looking at her hands to avoid his gaze.

He put a hand to his head and closed his eyes. "Who are you?" he asked softly.

Sylvia stumbled on her words before forming a coherent sentence. What was wrong with him? Was he getting another headache?

"I'm Sylvia... remember? We meet a few days ago…"

With closed eyes, Merlin's thoughts coursed through his worried mind. What had just happened? All he could remember was darkness… the black oblivion… and then he was suddenly able to _feel_, to _see_…

But where was Emrys? Had he finally left him?

And then Merlin thought of the little girl who had found him. He looked at her and saw her panicked expression.

"I'm so sorry… I just scared you like that –" Merlin apologized.

"That's ok…" the replied in a small voice, looking back at him. She had blonde hair and was wearing traditional Druid clothing.

Merlin stiffened as he heard people calling someone's name. They were calling Emrys.

Out of fear, he quickly stood up and his foot got caught on his cloak and he tripped and fell.

"_Ouch,_" he voiced as he stood up again, carefully, making sure that the cloak was not in his way this time.

_Where did the cloak I'm wearing come from? _he wondered to himself.

"Is something wrong?" came a troubled voice behind him.

"No… no there isn't," Merlin hesitantly responded as he wiped the dirt off his hands.

Sylvia looked at him quizzically- he was a terrible liar.

Ignoring his response, Sylvia spoke, "We should get back to the camp," and headed out of the clearing without looking back.

Merlin stood there for several seconds contemplating whether he should follow her or not. Judging by her clothing, he supposed she meant a 'Druid camp'. Looking in the direction the girl had walked a few seconds ago, he decided to join her.

Breaking out into a run, he quickly caught up with Sylvia and found her with her hands on her hips with a frown on her face.

"Come on," she said, clearly annoyed and began walking again.

Merlin smiled and quietly followed her... home...

* * *

When they arrived, Merlin saw Druids performing their morning activities. He felt comforted that he was in a place where there were people _like _him. People who could, perhaps, understand who and what he was.

A few Druids, he suspected, who had been searching for 'Emrys', stopped when they saw him walking into their village with Sylvia and woman immediately rushed to his side and asked if he was fine and where he had been.

Merlin stared at her with confusion – Who was she?

_You know who she is. _a voice suddenly said in Merlin's head.

Emrys.

Emrys was back.

Merlin panicked and backed away from the questioning woman.

"_No…Please…" _he groaned.

_Do not think that you can fight me, Merlin._

Sylvia and Elthia watched as 'Emrys' backed away from them. He eyes were closed his eyes and his legs gave way. Elthia saw him falling and supported his fallen body on the ground.

"Emrys? Emrys? What's wrong? Can you hear me?" came her alarmed voice. She checked his body to make sure that there were not any cuts that could be causing this sudden fatigue he was experiencing. Finding none, all she could do was wait until he woke up.

Emrys's pained expression disappeared and his body grew limp.

But he was still breathing.

Within a few minutes, his finger started to move, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Sylvia looked over Elthia's shoulder, back at Emrys.

His eyes… they were gold again… _What the heck is going on? _thought Sylvia.

Elthia seemed to have noticed the different colored eyes because when he opened them, she gasped.

His eyes, unfocused, finally met hers. He quickly tried to get up, but she held him down.

"Wh-aat happened?" came Emrys's voice now week with exhaustion.

"You fell," replied a voice. It was Elthia.

"Where did he-" Emrys abruptly stopped. He hoped that they hadn't heard him. _Merlin's gone... Finally._

"Where did who go?"

"Nothing," he quickly responded.

"I'm sorry," said Emrys sincerely as Elthia helped him to stand up.

"You should go to bed, Emrys," said Elthia, worried. "And please, if you are going to leave, just tell someone so we don't think that something's wrong. It's for the safety of our camp, and we don't want to mistaken you for an outsider..." she said, gently.

Emrys nodded his head.

Elthia took Sylvia back to Aluf, and for the rest of the day, Emrys sat in his tent on his bed, lost in his thoughts.

_Merlin… Who is Merlin? _

Merlin had told him that he was him_, _but that did not make any sense.

And then Emrys thought about those visions he kept getting.

They were of someone who looked like him, someone whose name was 'Merlin'. They were of _his_ childhood, Merlin had told him. They were of Merlin's friends…

_But that cannot be possible. _Emrys thought. _He said we are two people in one body!_

Emrys quickly rejected that impossible idea.

_No, that can't be._

Emrys stayed up into the late hours of the night.

He wanted help. He needed help. He needed something that would rid him of these annoying visions.

And then he remembered.

A little boy... Mordred, he had called himself, had told him to meet him in the clearing tonight, and that he would help him. He said he could get rid of his visions, and perhaps that would get rid of Merlin.

Emrys made up his mind.

He would go to the clearing tonight.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed that! Please review :) Was this more angsty?_


	9. A Single Flame

**Title:** Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer:** All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

* * *

**Me: **I am so, very sorry about the delay.

**Mob: **What took you so long? *put hands on hips*

**Me: **I just ran out of ideas... *looks at ground nervously* ...Well... I did have _some_ ideas, but didn't like them.

**Mob: **You ran out of ideas? How could you?

**Me: **I don't know! I've never had writers block before! and this darn school schedule is just slowing me down even more... *starts slowly backing away from growing crowd*

**Leader of the mob: **Let's get herrrr! *runs towards helpless girl*

**Me: ***waves hand in air* Stop! Stop!

**Mob: ***halts*

**Me: **...Ok, ok! I've got the next chapter right here. Just hold on a moment!

_Phew, that was close! *wipes sweat from brow*_

_Enjoy!__  
_

* * *

**A Single Flame**

* * *

Late into the night, when everybody was asleep, Emrys sighed - he had been staring at the same, single flame that lit his room for several hours now. He wanted to go, but it was not yet time. So he waited in silence as everyone else in the Druid camp peacefully slept.

He was alone -

Just him and the candle.

The candle and him.

Both so different...

The candle - burning bright yellows and reds, and occasionally blues, shimmering and wavering as a strong passing wind blew open a flap inside the tent.

But the small flame was strong; it did not yield to the passing wind and soon recovered from the breeze and continued to burn more fiercely than ever.

It refused to give up, to die.

Emrys - Staring at the glowing warmth, calmly breathing, occasionally closing his tired eyes. Lifting his eyelids again, only to find the flame, still dancing before him.

... and yet, both so alike -

Yellow against yellow, two glowing orbs. Both filled with power and life.

Each, glowing beautifully, giving life, light, sustenance to the world.

And both, so easily smothered by a passing breeze.

A flame and a person, both standing _alone _in a world too big for them.

* * *

_Her lungs burned. Every breathe was painful. __She couldn't feel her body, or see. And there was an excruciating pain, radiating throughout her whole body...and then darkness... _

Morgana woke up screaming. For a second, her eyes turned gold and a glass vase near her window shattered. Her bedclothes clung to her body and sweat rolled down her back. Morgana stared at the broken vase.

The door to her bedroom sprung open and someone rushed inside. Hurrying across the room, a person put their arms around Morgana and she panicked- Morgana struggled against the tight embrace before realizing it Gwen and immediately relaxed.

Then the sobbing began.

"How.. c-could he?" Morgana asked between her sobs. It _hurt _so much - mentally and physically- to be betrayed by someone she trusted. "I.. trusted.. h-him!"

"Shhhhhh..." Gwen said and patted Morgana on the back,"It was just a dream," she said soothingly.

Morgana's sobbing soon stopped.

For the first time since she came back, Morgana was genuinely glad Gwen was there.

* * *

A wind, more powerful than any of the others, whooshed across the room.

It surprised the candle, and instantly blew it out.

_It was time_. Emrys decided, taking the extinguished flame as a cue to leave.

Reaching over to the small table beside his bed, Emrys took the a pen off the table and wrote on the parchment, telling the Druids not to worry and that he would be back soon. He silently thanked Sylvia for giving him the pen and parchment as he put on his long, dark cloak. Emrys walked outside into the night and walked silently through the woods and soon arrived at a large clearing. A small person standing there and recognized him as Mordred.

"I have come." Emrys said as he pulled down the hood of the cloak he was wearing, revealing his face.

* * *

_What's taking him so long? _Alvarr asked himself for the hundredth time as he paced impatiently around the clearing. A smaller person stood silently by a tree with his eyes closed.

"He's coming now." Mordred announced. He stepped away from the tree and Alvarr stood protectively beside Mordred as a hooded man with glowing eyes appeared. Silently, they watched intently as Emrys approached them, stopped, and pull down his hood to reveal his face.

"I have come."

"Welcome," Mordred greeted Emrys.

Emrys nodded.

"I have come here tonight to tell you my decision," he began, confidently, "I will-." But he stopped abruptly mid-sentence in the sentence as he gasped.

He reached hands up to his throat as he felt something constricting his throat. But no one was near him, no one was close enough to touch him.

_No, no, no! _

He couldn't think and his surrounding blurred. The lack of oxygen was having its toll on Emrys's body.

His legs gave out and he collapsed on the ground.

"What is happening, Mordred?"

"He must be having another one of his 'visions' again... I've never seen him react to violently to them..." Mordred responded, clearly puzzeled too. "Let's have a look," Mordred decided, as he walked up to Emrys and touched his back.

As his cool hand made contact with Emrys's back, his body became detached. He soon immersed himself into Emrys mind.

All he could see was darkness. And then he heard something that sounded like a voice. Perhaps _two voices _to be more exact. Mordred probed further and he was finally able to make out a few sentences.

_You're _killing _me. _Us.

_I'm not going to allow you to join them._

_But _I _want to, if it means that I can get rid of you._

_I was here first, you are _not _me. I will _not _allow you to._

Mordred felt Emrys shift and pulled his hand away from Emrys' back.

Merlin's breathing soon returned to normal and his body relaxed. It was not long before he opened his eyes.

_Where was he?_

Oh yes, now he remembered. Emrys had told him that he was in a clearing and wanted to accept some... stone.. from Mordred.

Mordred of all people.

_What was Emrys thinking?_

He quickly, sat up, which wasn't a good idea. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he closed his eyes.

"So you have a double-personality," a young, cold voice spoke.

Merlin opened his eyes. He did not speak.

"Welcome back, _Merlin. _I bet your _friend _is not to happy with your return."

No one answered him.

"Your friend... is he gone now?"

Merlin's looked at Mordred curiously and quickly got up again. This time, he leaned against a tree and steadied himself as another wave of dizziness came over him.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Merlin responded in a frosty tone. He looked around to see who else was there - Alvarr, but Morgana and Morgause were not present.

"You have been saved Merlin. You may not be so lucky the next time. I am sure that we will meet again."

Mordred turned around and walked away.

Merlin watched as the little Druid boy disappeared within the trees.

* * *

"Bring him in."

A peasant from one of the villagers outside of Camelot was brought before him.

"Your majesty," the man said as he bowed his head and looked Uther nervously in the eyes, "a few days ago, I was in the woods. I saw a group of people gathered… and I overheard part of the discussion before I ran for my life…they were planning your downfall! I heard them with their own ears... they are gathering a group of powerful sorcerers to destroy Camelot when they have united!" the peasant finished with obvious fear on his face.

"Where are they gathering?"

"In a small v-village, just in the direction towards Ealdor." The man looked nervously and looked around the room before continuing, "I am risking my life as I tell you this because I live near the village where this occurred..."

Uther nodded his head and turned his gaze towards one of the guards stationed behind him.

"Take this man and make sure that he has a night here," Uther commanded.

The guard stepped forward and lead the trembling peasant out of the room.

Uther immediately turned his attention towards Arthur.

"Please put the people's minds at ease. I have heard many reports like this and few of them have proven to be true. But if there really are sorcerers gathering and planning to overthrow Camelot, then you will have to kill them before their plans go too far. Tonight you are to prepare for your short journey to village and you will ride out at dawn."

Arthur slowly lifted his head and looked his father in the face for the first time in weeks.

Uther tried to conceal the shock on his face as he saw Arthur- his son's eyes which once sparkled with joy and happiness, were now dull orbs with deep circles under them and his expression was that of deep sorrow and loss. When Arthur spoke, his voice was hollow; it did not show any emotion or feelings.

"Yes, Sire," he said respectfully before turning around and leaving the room. The sound of his boots echoed through the corridors as he walked the halls of the castle.

Alone.

* * *

_I hoped you liked it - I will assure you that the plot will soon pick up again, starting with the next chapter!_

_And yes, I know the beginning scene with Emrys seems a little detached- more like a one-shot- but I couldn't delete it because it fits in here so nicely - the 'alone' in the beginning of the chapter is restated here at the end of the chapter. _

_(P.S. Mordred told Morgana and Morgause not to come in case something went wrong.)_

_P.S.S. Wasn't the last episode (The Coming of Arthur [Part I]) great? I can't believe S3 is almost over! How will I ever survive until the next season? *Sighs* C'est la vie! (That's life!) _

_Oh, and, as always..._

___Please review :D_


	10. Revelations

**Title:** Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer:** All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

There is a short quote from Season 1, Episode 1, 'The Dragon's Call'. Can you find it? =)

**Chapter Note:** One of my strongest parts of my writing is getting into the heads of my characters. One of the weakest parts of my writing is dialogue. I don't know why I had troubles with writing dialogue, but I'm trying to improve it as I write this fic, and hope that I've executed it a bit better in this chapter.

I am awfullysorry about the lateness of this chapter. I've been extremely busy this week with exams and tests and all of the great stuff. I hope the next chapter will be posted a bit sooner than this one was. Again, I'm sorry.

Here are a few responses to the reviews I received from the previous chapter:

**KittyO:** You brought up a good point. Here's the reason behind what I did - Mordred knows Merlin's magic isn't stable, so he doesn't want to push Merlin too far because Merlin may get angry and attack Mordred [presumably by using magic]. Mordred knows that he may not be powerful enough to ward off the magic of the combined Merlin/Emrys, so he decides to leave Merlin so he can get the help from other powerful sorcerers [namely Morgana, Morgause and Alvarr] to make Merlin/Emrys willingly or unwillingly join then.

**Nikki:** Thank you for your feedback! In the BBC Merlin series, Mordred's power is talking to people telepathically. In my fanfiction I wanted to take it a step further and enable Mordred to read people's minds through touch. I did this to a) add another dimension to his character and b) it sounded like an interesting idea and I couldn't resist adding another twist to the story.

**: **I couldn't help but laugh when I first read your username! I'm glad you like the plot =)

**Word-Stringer, Tonbo-Kitsune, **and **Catastros: **Thank you so much for commenting. This chap's longer and more eventful and I hope you that you enjoy reading it.

And a big 'Thank You' to all those who reviewed – your feedback is much appreciated. It lets me know how I'm doing and I'm glad that you're enjoying this fic so far!

Now, on with this chapter…

* * *

**Revelations**

**

* * *

**

_Something warm, soothing touches his mind. What is it? He flinches away from the invading sensation that suddenly envelops him._

_It feels oddly familiar, like it's always been there. And then it makes sense. _

_He looks up at his friend. _

_A tilted head with two bright blue eyes stare down at him curiously. _

'_Why did you not tell me? Is it because you did not trust me with your secret?' _

_He is not answered immediately and he watches with sad eyes as the torchbearer nears his friend's pyre. Time is running out and he _needs_ the answer. He _needs_ to know before it's too late…_

_Sorrow, sadness, pain, loss… _forgiveness_?_

_The rush of emotions coursing through his mind are overwhelming him and they make his head spin. His and his friend's thoughts are all disjointed._

He needs the answer _now_.

_The torch touches the dry straw. The fire is now catching quickly; it will soon catch on his friends clothes. But before the fire licks his friend's skin, Arthur feels the warm, comforting feeling suddenly fade from his mind. _

No!_ he inwardly yells, his body instinctively lurches forward, but guards surrounding him restrain him. They pull back his arms, holding him back._

_Even as he is held, his eyes do not leave his friend's, even as the fiery flames obstruct his view. A sharp, pang of sadness and anger rips through his very soul._

_It is too late._

_He will never know the answer._

_

* * *

_

"It's time to wake up Sire," he called again, this time sighing.

Why hadn't he had he woken up yet? He'd been standing there calling the Prince's name for _five minutes_ and the Prince had _yet_ to awaken. And he wasn't even sleeping peacefully – Henry could tell because he was constantly tossing and turning breathing heavily, obviously trapped in some terrifying nightmare. By the firelight, Henry could see beads of sweat trickling down the Prince's face. The room wasn't even warm; it was only a few minutes ago that he had lit the fire.

He soon lost his patience – the Prince could get a bit stubborn sometimes. He needed to get him up and maybe the Prince would appreciate him for getting rid of his nightmare. Grumbling as he walked up to the bed, he firmly took a hold of the Prince's shoulders.

"It's time to wake up _now, _Sire," he called once more while shaking the Prince _gently _for a few seconds.

Arthur woke with a start. His eyes quickly opened and frantically searched the room before settling on the person standing before him. _Oh, _Arthur thought, _it's Henry again._

"I'm sorry Sire, but the King requests that you be woken up right now."

"S'kay," replied Arthur as he rubbed the sleep out of his tired eyes. He hadn't slept well for several days now – these dreams, these nightmares kept plaguing his sleep and refused to take any of the sleeping potions Gaius had prescribed to him. Gaius had looked at him like he was crazy - but Arthur knew he wasn't crazy. Arthur just didn't want to tell Gaius the reasons behind his 'madness.'

The thing was he _didn't _want the nightmares to go away. He _needed _the nightmares because they brought back memories, although painful ones, of something, someone he _never_ wanted to forget.

Arthur yawned. "What time's it?" he said as he wiped away some of the sweat that lined his brow.

"Four o'clock, Sire."

God, the sun wasn't even up. Sighing, Arthur stood up and got out of bed.

"Armor?" he questioned as he stretched his arms and legs.

"Oh… yes, Sire. I'll get it immediately." Henry bowed and hurried out of the room.

Arthur watched Henry walk out.

As waited, he sat down at the table and he shook his head. It seemed like everything about this new boy was wrong!

Inwardly, Arthur chuckled. He guessed that he'd become so used to Merlin's disobedience, frequent quips and clumsiness that he'd forgotten what it was like to have a 'proper' servant.

Henry made Arthur think of the first few weeks Merlin and he had had together. Merlin was like a fly - always there, always very annoying and constantly getting on his nerves. But over time, he and Merlin had learned to understand each other, and Merlin's behavior soon grew on him. And that, Arthur reassured himself, would _never _happen between him and Henry. The strong bond that the he and Merlin had shared was special, different, and sometimes misunderstood. But he knew for certain that it could not be shared with anyone else.

Henry reentered the room with all of Arthur's armor in his arms.

* * *

Merlin couldn't sleep.

He was too worried about Emrys. He didn't want to be plunged back into the darkness again and Merlin knew that if Emrys came back, Emrys would be furious with him and he wouldn't be able to stop Emrys from taking over. Merlin was only back on borrowed time and knew it wouldn't be long before Emrys would catch him off guard and take over again.

But what troubled him more at the moment was how he, himself had...come back from the dark oblivion... His last memory before succumbing to to scorching flames that licked his skin... the excruciating pain... and then the peaceful, restful darkness that soon followed.

And then he remembered the first time he woke up out of the black oblivion like wading through knee-high mud in complete darkness and hearing a voice in his head and then telling it to get out. He remembered telling the voice that he was _Merlin _and that the voice (whose name he had recently learned was Emrys) and he must be related; that they must be the same person. Merlin would never forget the next thing he would feel – Emrys's words cut their way into Merlin and forcefully shove Merlin to the back of his head. It had felt horrible, like someone had actually thrown him against a wall and losing consciousness.

Merlin then remembered waking up in an open field and finding a little girl standing fearfully next to him. He remembered following the girl back to a Druid village, only to be pushed right back into the darkness as Emrys caught him off guard.

And then for a fourth time, Merlin remembered hearing Emrys discuss about joining forces with Mordred. Merlin remembered panicking, knowing that he had to gain control before Emrys made his decision. He remembered slowly and painfully edging his way out of the blackness, desperately needing to regain control to stop _his other self_ from doing something stupid.

Emrys could not take over now. He had to fight Emrys, to become known as the dominant of the two. To _remain _the dominate of the two for longer periods of time.

What was he going to do about Camelot, Gaius, and Gwen… Arthur? For all he knew, Morgana could have taken over Camelot by then and his destiny failed. And even if Camelot remained unharmed and he came back, he might put Arthur in danger because of Emrys – who knows what Emrys would try to do?

Who _was _Emrys?

Merlin had been thinking for such a long time that he'd lost track of what time it was.

What time was it? Four… five? All he knew was that it was very early, too early for anyone to possibly be awake.

Merlin opened eyes and searched the room. It was completely dark… except there was something outside that looked like a small light. _Who in their right mind would be up this early?_ he thought. Getting out of bed, he realized that he hadn't even taken off his cloak last night.

Merlin soon made his way out of his tent and silently drew closer to light.

Outside the candle lit tent, Merlin heard a voice. The person wouldn't be able to see him – the darkness concealed his identity- and Merlin closed his eyes and focused on the voices inside. His bright eyes burned gold and lit up the darkness as he used his magic –

"-can barely walk," came a man's mocking voice, soon followed by laughter.

There was a brief pause in the conversation.

"Yes, I know, I know that," came the voice, louder.

_Wait a minute! I must have missed something _thought Merlin as he listened more closely.

But only silence met his ears.

"Ok, sorry. You know I don't like talking with you that way," the voice said, softer this time and obviously replying to someone, something that Merlin couldn't hear, even with his magic.

So there were at least two people in the tent. But how was the man responding to someone who didn't even talk to him? More silence.

"When? Tonight? Where are we meeting?"

Again, silence. This was getting a bit aggravating.

"Ahh... ok. Thanks for getting that straight. What about Morgana? Is she coming?"

Morgana? Was Morgana going to come to the 'meeting' that was happening 'tonight'?

"That's good, alright. I better get some rest."

Merlin heard footsteps and then a man blow out the candlelight.

" 'night"

Merlin slowly backed away from the tent and made his way back to his. It was a bit difficult making his way back to his tent because he couldn't see.

But he didn't worry about bumping into things. It was the information that he just used that he just obtained that worried him. What meeting was happening tonight and where? Why was Morgana coming? Where was the meeting being held?

Merlin sighed. Like he needed to add another thing to his list of never-ending worries.

* * *

Sir Leon was in his chambers, dressed, and putting his sword into its hilt which was attached to his belt. Walking out, he quickly made his way down the torchlight corridor and into the stables. He patted his horses' mane before leading it out of the stables.

Several knights were standing there in the dark courtyard when Sir Leon had arrived, but Arthur wasn't there yet.

Leon shook his head as and the others waited.

How could Arthur keep going on like this? Since the day of Merlin's execution, he'd been acting like the living dead. Like there was nothing left in the world for him. Arthur had stopped going to tournaments, much to his father's disapproval, and he went more frequently on 'hunting trips.' But Arthur would always return without any game, and Sir Leon knew that Arthur wasn't really hunting; it was just an excuse just to go out and... and well, he didn't know exactly what Arthur was doing because he never followed him, but he knew that Arthur was not hunting.

Even Arthur's deep depression was affecting his weight and sleeping habits - he was growing thinner and thinner and although he retired to his chambers early, every time he'd see him at the sword practice, he'd see the dark lines, etched under his eyes.

Even Arthur's aura around him had changed. Anyone who stayed with him, including his new servant 'Henry' he was called, felt the coldness, the sadness, his depression. It was not a comfortable feeling and this worried Sir Leon.

What if today, they were to face a group of sorcerers? How would this affect Arthur? What would Arthur do? After all, his best friend, Merlin had turned out to be a sorcerer himself…

Uther had told him that sorcery was evil, that it corrupted people's souls, and Sir Leon had believed that. But after meeting Merlin…. Well, that really changed his view. He always knew that there was something about Merlin; just like Arthur had suspected the moment he'd met him. But he and Arthur had never suspected that Merlin was a sorcerer.

At first, he had felt anger build up inside himself, but then he thought of his… friend. Merlin had never done any of them harm. Sir Leon chuckled - Merlin'd probably done more damage to himself. If sorcery corrupted, then why hadn't Merlin killed Arthur?

Sir Leon was brought back to the present when he heard the clopping of a horses' hooves upon the cobblestone. Arthur had finally arrived. As Arthur approached his horse, he, Arthur, and the rest of the knights all mounted theirs. Arthur gave the signal and all of the knights followed behind him.

The sun was just coming up when they left.

* * *

Merlin couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. He hadn't much sleep and earlier that day he'd gotten a feeling that something was going to go wrong. Something horrible, bad, but he didn't know whether to believe his instincts or not. In the past when he'd follow his instincts, he was usually right. But the feeling he had now was… different than the others. He had a feeling that something was coming… something… someone.

But who? And why would they come here? Merlin paced his tent, walking back and forth in an elongated oval.

_I'm baaackkk_

Merlin's foot froze midstep. He gasped. _No! Not now, please not now…_

'_No'? That's all you can say? You've had your fun, my friend. Now it's time for me to have _mine.

Emrys's voice grew louder, stronger and Merlin knew that he would soon lose control. But what had provoked Emrys to come back? Merlin tried desperately to keep walking to keep moving, to do anything just to keep control…

But it was of no use. Merlin soon felt a numbing sensation wash over his whole body and he knew that he'd fallen down, but he couldn't feel anything of see anything anymore. He was being pushed back into the darkness, the black oblivion of nothingness.

* * *

Leaves crunched and birds flew as Arthur and his men quickly made their way through the dark woods. Long shadows of the trees appeared on the leaf strewn ground as the sun rose slowly into the bright red sky. A few miles outside of Camelot they soon came upon a large river. Its waters were a murky blue, and the atmosphere around it seemed… peaceful. It seemed to invite them in and the horses were a bit thirsty, so they all stopped by the river and watered their horses.

Arthur lead his down to the wide expansion of water he could not help but wish that he would find no sorcerers and that this mission would be for naught.

* * *

_Hope you like that! Until next time! Oh, the sentence "_His bright eyes burned gold and lit up the darkness as he used his magic"_ is alluding to the sentence the dragon said about Morgana to Merlin but reversed – Merlin's the light to the darkness and his magic will always be there to help him (or not help him in this case). _

_I know where this plot's going. It's going to pick up in the next few chapters and the next chapter's going to be a bit more epic…. *shifty eyes*_

_And, as always:_

_Please review. =)_


	11. Golden

**Title:** Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer:** All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

* * *

**Golden**

* * *

Arthur and his men set up a camp and spent the night there. At the break of dawn, they packed everything up again and moved on. If the peasant's instructions were right, then they would arrive at the camp in just a few hours.

* * *

"Rise and shine, Morgana!" a voice called.

Morgana stirred in her uneasily sleep. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before because of the meeting. But at least they'd organized their plans. Everything was together. All they needed was the right time to set it into motion, and then there would be no stopping them.

Gwen opened the curtains, letting in a healthy ray of sunlight.

"Did you sleep well?" she continued as she got some of Morgana's clothes out of the closet.

Morgana blinked a few times before her eyes adjusted to the light, and sat up.

"I slept ok," she voiced discontentedly.

"Had another bad dream? You could have asked me last night to get you your sleeping drought. I'm sure that Gaius-"

"-I'm alright, Gwen. See?" Morgana interrupted and gave her a huge smile. "I'm great. Nothing's wrong," she added cheerfully.

"Alright then." Gwen continued to pick clothes out of the closet. "Which would you prefer? This one or that one?" she asked, clutching two lovely dresses in her arms.

"That one," Morgana pointed out.

"Thought you'd prefer it," Gwen smiled as she put the other dress back into the closet.

* * *

It felt great to be back.

Emrys sighed as he stood up on his unsteady legs. Sweat still covered his body, and besides that and just a few minor bruises, he was alright. A little inclination of someone coming nudged at the back of his head, but Emrys couldn't think of anyone else who would know the location of their village or who would want to target him- besides Merlin, and Emrys was going to make sure that Merlin wouldn't come back. Not just yet.

* * *

At that exact moment of seeing smoke rise from a distance hill, Arthur felt a heavy weight fall down in his chest. He didn't want to be killing any more sorcerers. He just didn't. One of his best friends was already dead, and now, not even a week later, his father ordered him to rid a camp of angry sorcerers. Arthur couldn't even blame him because he was a broken man, consumed and blinded by his grief.

Arthur and his men moved on.

* * *

Emrys thought that he better find Sylvia before she got worried about him again. He stretched his legs for a few minutes and then walked out of the tent and headed towards the group of playing kids. Sylvia was in the middle, and she looked so happy. And she was smiling, and her golden locks bounced around her shoulders as she ran around the camp without a care in the world.

He noted that ever since he had been with Sylvia, the kids weren't making fun of her anymore.

With pleasure, Emrys stood and watched the children play.

Everything looked so peaceful. Everyone looked so happy.

Emrys didn't want this moment to end.

* * *

After Gwen finished helping Morgana, she went over to Gaius's place. She had made a practice of going over to help Gaius since Merlin was gone and Gaius refused to find a new helper. She did the best she could to finish all her new chores plus her old ones, but could never really finish them all. She couldn't figure how Merlin could have possible have done them all and still get a good night's sleep.

Today, Gwen found Gaius sitting at his desk. He was not doing anything in particular, just piling papers and organizing some books.

"I've got to put that book away," he grumbled, unaware of Gwen's presence.

"Gaius?" Gwen said and Gaius looked up.

"Ah, there you are. You're late, just like Mer-." Gaius stopped and his eyes dropped back to the pile of unorganized papers, looking for something that was not there. He continued to ramble on, "Please get some honey from the market. Oh, and before I forget, please go to Wilson's place and give him this medicine." Gaius fumbled around the room and found the potion. "He's says his eyes are bothering him again," Gaius completed as he placed the potion into Gwen's hands.

"Gaius. Gaius, just slow down. I wanted to talk to you about Morgana."

Gaius's face fell. "She was out again last night, wasn't she?"

"Yes."

"I was afraid you would say that."

* * *

Arthur saw a village just ahead. He noted that smoke was rising in the air, perhaps enough to attribute to the burning of many campfires. From behind a tree, Arthur could see that all of the people were wearing the usually Druid cape. He took a deep breath and painfully exhaled.

"On the count of three." He said, with a determined expression on his face.

Lancelot adjusted his stance.

"One."

With clammy hands, Gwaine gripped his sword tighter.

"Two."

A large bird overhead cast its shadow upon the ground.

"Three," Arthur whispered.

From behind the trees and bushes, the Knights ran. Arthur's surprise tactic worked, like it always did. The Druid's, unaware of their presence, began to run everywhere. Women gathered their children and ran with their children into the woods. The men stayed behind, buying their wives enough time to get their children out the village.

A few children who had been playing looked up when they heard screams. Arthur saw a tall person in a green cloak grab the hands of children and lead them towards the woods. In that same moment, an arrow shot out towards the person, but before it even reached him, the person's hand shot out and the arrow fell uselessly to the ground, three yards away from its initial target.

When the person turned around to see who shot the arrow, Arthur gasped. The first thing Arthur saw were the person's eyes which were of a molten gold. Like something inhuman, they looked wild, fierce, scared. This distraction gave enough time for a Druid to Arthur with a sword. Arthur three parried and disengaged to low line, but the Druid parried and riposte to Arthur's chest. Arthur reflexively parried four and thrust to the high six line, surprising his opponent, and killing him instantly. He watched the Druid fall with a thump on the ground and his stomach turned.

By the time Arthur looked up, the person and all the children were gone.

* * *

Emrys ran with the children, towards the village he had seen in one of his visions. Mentally, he thanked Merlin for telling him the direction of the village, otherwise, he would not have known where he was going.

Sylvia and held Emrys's clammy hand and she and the other Druid children ran with him. She noted that any arrows that were directed at them or men who were attempting to kill them all fell down. Unconscious or dead? she did not know.

It did not take Arthur and his men too long to demolish the village. An hour had passed and everyone in the village was either dead, or had run away. Arthur had a few casualties, but other than that, the attack was successful.

Arthur looked back at the spot where the person with glowing eyes had stood.

Those eyes looked so familiar…

"What are you looking for?" Percival asked as he watched Arthur stare at nothing.

"Nothing. Just nothing," Arthur muttered.

Percival patted Arthur's back. "We did a good job here."

Arthur nodded and turned around.

"Let's go now," he added, sullenly.

* * *

William was feeding the hens when he noticed a group of children with cloaks on approaching his village. _Druids, why would then come here?_ He pondered as he finished feeding the squawking hens.

"I've got these children and our village was just attacked. Please help," the boy pleaded as he neared him.

William looked hesitantly at the boy, stunned. For a moment, William thought that he was – no that was impossible. The voice was just a little different, and his eyes never glowed. He was tall and skinny enough...

He paused for a moment and then began to speak, "If this some kind of trick? If it is-"

"-They're coming," the boy pleaded. His shaking hands held fast to a little girl protectively.

The boy shifted nervously.

"Alright, alright quick, get inside."

The boy in the green cloak immediately gathered the children and followed the other boy into a house.

It was dark inside the house and the only light came from a small fire which was lit in a small stone fireplace. A woman sat in a chair, knitting as she spoke without looking up. "It's about time, William. I told you to be here five minutes ago."

"Umm, Hunith? We have a few visitors."

Hunith stopped knitting and looked behind her.

The first thing that caught her eyes were all of the children. Druid children to be exact. And then she saw the leader, and his hand was protectively holding a child's. And then his eyes. The golden eyes. The burning embers and the peels of molten gold mixed with a hint of deep blue.

"Hello," the boy meekly said.

That voice…

"We've got to hurry, please." The boy pleaded.

That tone…

Hunith's broken heart skipped a beat.

"Merlin?"

* * *

"You and everyone else can go back to Camelot. Tell my father that the mission was successful and I'll back around seven." Arthur said, as he got back on his horse.

Lancelot and a few other knights looked at him curiously. "Where are you going? And I don't think that you should be going alone. After today, I don't think that it would be too safe traveling around the woods." Lancelot said, getting up off the ground.

"To Ealdor. I need to talk to Hunith."

There was silence and then Lancelot spoke again, "Ahhh," he said, his face saddening. "I would like to come though. For safety. You know that there are dangerous people out there."

"Yeah," Arthur sighed. "Okay".

"I'd like to say hi to Hunith also. Her loss is also our loss. Merlin was a great friend. The truest, most trustworthy-"

"-I know." Arthur interrupted. "Sorry about that. It's just, well, you understand, right?"

"Yes. I do. Trust me. I understand."

Lancelot patted Arthur on the back and they walked towards the small village of Ealdor.

For about thirty minutes, Arthur and Lancelot walked through the woods. Lancelot was the first to break the silence.

"Who was that strange person you were looking at earlier by the way? You know, the one with golden eyes and the green cloak," he said, "I-I've never seen anyone's eyes look like that before. It was almost mesmerizing." Lancelot looked back at Arthur.

"It looked like you knew him." Lancelot pushed.

Arthur shook his head and continued to walk. "That's what I thought so, too. But no, I didn't know him. I don't know who he was."

"Huh." Lancelot said. And for the rest of the time, they did not say anything.

* * *

_Finally, I got this chapter done. What an accomplishment! I'm so very, very sorry about the delay- School is killing me and I had writer's block. But enough of the excuses, you will get more soon!_


	12. Solace

**Title:** Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer:** All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.

**Chapter Note: **I'm trying to improve my dialogue and make sure that I tie together some more loose ends…

This chapter mainly explores more of Arthur's mixed feelings and Hunith's heartbrokenness. We will get to explore more of Lancelot in future chapters…

Enjoy!

* * *

**Solace**

* * *

"Will? Gather all of the children's cloaks and put them under my bed. Disperse then throughout the village to make it look more normal," she said.

Will nodded and soon, all of the children and he himself left the small cottage.

"Merlin. Merlin. I'm your mother. Don't you remember?" she said a few minutes later, repeating the name softly, caressing the words and saying each syllable delicately. She hoped that he would come back to her. She needed Merlin and she knew that Merlin needed her. Why can't he remember me? Why? she though, frantically.

Emrys shook his head and tears formed in Hunith's eyes.

"I'm your mother, Merlin," she repeated, desperately.

Suddenly Emrys felt a nibbling sensation at the back of his head. He tried to push Merlin back but he was too strong. Emrys was going to pass out any moment. Looking around for the door, he tore his eyes away from the woman and rushed outside.

"Merlin!" Hunith yelled, running to the door, and she looked outside, but she could not see him.

He was gone.

Hunith went back into her house and closed the door. Maybe it was just a Druid and her subconscious giving her an image of what she wanted. She'd heard Arthur talking about people who hallucinated when something tragic happened to the one they loved. It was probably my imagination playing tricks on me, she thought sadly.

* * *

Meanwhile…

"See that village over there?" Arthur asked, pointing from the hill at the houses. Children were outside, chasing each other. Some of them were throwing rocks into the air and seeing how far they could throw them.

"Yes."

"That's Ealdor."

"Looks nice," Lancelot commented.

"It's a great village," Arthur said as he walked down the mountain path into the field of wheat.

* * *

Knock, knock.

Hunith stood up and opened up the door.

"Hello, Hunith. It's me, Arthur."

"And Lancelot."

"Hello there," she said, letting them in. "It's been a long time since I've seen you."

"Same to you," Arthur replied. "Oh, excuse me. Have you meet Lancelot yet?"

"No I haven't. Merlin's mentioned him to me one of the times he visited. It's great to meet you," Hunith said, shaking Lancelot's hand.

"It's great to meet you also," he smiled.

"Why don't you sit down, get yourselves comfortable?"

Arthur looked at Lancelot. "I'd like to talk to Hunith about something…"

"Sure, Arthur. I'm not offended. You two just take your time," Lancelot said, trying to make things go as smoothly as possible.

"Thanks a lot. 'really appreciate it."

"No problem," Lancelot said, leaving the house.

* * *

Lancelot had never been to Ealdor before, but the setting and the aura made him think of the village he grew up in. Peaceful, quiet…. Full of children, he remarked when he saw some children playing a game with stones ahead.

"Hi there," he was about to say when suddenly, a hand gripped his arm and pulled him aside into the shadows between two houses.

Lancelot's free hand flew instinctively towards his scabbard and he attempted to pull out his sword, but the person's voice stopped him-

"Stop it, Lancelot! It's just me… Merlin!"

* * *

Meanwhile...

"No Arthur, you shouldn't be thinking that. Coming to Camelot was the best thing that ever happened to Merlin! Don't get me wrong! When I was sick before, he told me great things about you and Camelot. How Camelot had become his home," Hunith said.

"If he'd never met me he would never have died. And it's because of me he is dead!"

"No it was not!" Hunith argued. "It was magic, Arthur. Magic. Remember how you used to hate people with magic?" Hunith darkly chuckled. "Now you're a traitor to your own self."

The last sentence caught Arthur by surprise.

"I'm so sorry," Hunith apologized. "I really, honestly didn't mean to say that. I've just not been myself lately. Please forgive me."

Arthur nodded. "I understand. I'm sorry, too."

* * *

At the same time…

Lancelot looked up and saw the person's face.

Short, black hair and skinny, he noted. Deep blue eyes with a glint of gold…

"It's really you," he whispered. But how changed! He looked paler than his cleanest sheet, and beads of sweat lined his brow, as if he had a high fever. A familiar dark green Druid cloak hung loosely from his body. It looked like he hadn't slept well in days, and he was nervously shifting from side to side.

"Yes, Lancelot. It's me. I've got to tell you something, quickly," Merlin said, speaking as if he were out of breath. His words slurred together like one who had just woken up.

Lancelot's eyes widened. "Alright. But… how? How is this possible? Everybody, including me thought you were dead!"

"Never mind that. I don't have much time-"

"- Merlin. You're scarring me. This isn't making any sense!"

"Just trust me, Lancelot. Please. Like you did last time. And don't tell anyone," Merlin urgently pleaded.

Lancelot waited for the rest.

"Don't let me go near Arthur or Uther. Ever. Don't. Don't tell them about me; don't even be near me when I don't know your name."

Lancelot looked at Merlin like he was crazy. But the desperation he saw in Merlin's scared eyes…

Lancelot sighed, "Alright. I won't tell anyone," he agreed regretfully. How could Merlin so easily guilt him into agreeing to things that he would never do?

* * *

Later that day…

It was about six o-clock, when Arthur and Lancelot decided it was finally time to leave. They would meet up with the rest of the group in about an hour.

"What's wrong, Lancelot? It looks like you've seen a ghost," Arthur noted.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?" Arthur asked, doubtingly.

"Yes. Everything's just fine."

* * *

That night…

At eleven o'clock, Gaius was fast asleep. All of those nights of weeping left him feeling exhausted. Tonight, he fell into a deeper sleep.

_He was standing in a white place and there was light surrounding him. An creature with wings was coming towards him, but Gaius felt no need to move._

_"Gaius," the voice rumbled. "I haven't seen you in ages."_

_Gaius looked up and saw a dragon with copper scales shining in the bright light._

_"It's good to see you," Gaius voiced._

_"Do not be alarmed. I am bringing you an important message through one of your dreams," the Great Dragon spoke. "It is a nice place you are dreaming about. So peaceful. The solace that you are so longing to seek but can never find."_

_"And so you are right."_

_There was a minute of silence between them._

_"A few nights ago - when Merlin was killed - I felt a warp in the balance of the world. I thought then that with Merlin gone that the prophecy had been broken. But the tear in the balance has yet to close – but I know that it has too, and the only person who can heal it is The One. As the prophecy says: 'The One who was born to bare all of earth's fruits and pains shall return to earth and heal earth's tear and the prophecy shall then been whole,' but the tear has not healed, and the young one is dead - or so I thought."_

_"You're saying that he's alive?" Gaius spoke, doubtfully._

_"Yes," Kilgarrah answered._

_"If he were alive, wouldn't he have come to me by now? Well, that's unless he's angry with me."_

_"My dear Gaius. He would and could never be that angry with you. You guided him, yes, and you helped him through hard times," Kilgarrah shook his head, "You know him well enough to understand that he would never, ever be angry with you."_

_Gaius nodded his head._

_"Prophecies," Kilgarrah continued, "can be changed. However, only just a few have been perverted. I am thinking that this one is one of the few exceptions."_

_Something lost in his heart fluttered, like a golden key, waiting to open a cold door. "Then where is Merlin?_

_"I do not know."_

_"But you know for sure that he is alive?" Gaius said, want lingering in his heart._

_"Yes, indeed, Gaius. He is very much alive."_

The last words of Kilgarrah's sentence echoed quietly as Gaius's dream drifted into the unknown, and he was pulled away from the bright image and into… solace.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading and please review. :)

* * *

**More questions arise:**

What is Lancelot going to choose to do?

Will Hunith keep thinking that Merlin was just her imagination?

Where is Merlin going to go? What is he going to do?

What will Gaius and the Great Dragon do?

P.S. In the last chapter, I did not explain why William was there: In this fiction, William was never dead. Arthur did, however visit Merlin's village before.

Also, Arthur and gang did not recognize Merlin because Merlin had his hood up and most of the time Merlin was looking down at the kids. Hunith only recognizes him (but thinks she's hallucinating) because she has time to actually look at him) Gosh, I should have explained that in the last chapter. I really hate it when things like that just go past me. Oh well. :(


	13. Weaving Knots

**Title: **Out of the Ashes

**Disclaimer:** All characters are not of my creation; they belong to BBC's Merlin tv show.

**Author:** Forbearnan

* * *

**Weaving Knots**

* * *

Hunith sat on her bed, stunned, unable to move, too shocked to speak. Even when Will came in to bid her a good night, she did not respond. All she could do was sit there, numb, without feeling.

What was her mind trying to do? Why was it playing tricks on her? What was going on?

Hunith wiped away a tear.

* * *

It was cold outside, and a breeze blew through the village. Concealed by the shadows between Hunith's and their neighbor's house and shrouded in darkness, Merlin watch his mother from the small window.

Should he go in and tell his mother he was back? As Merlin pondered this question for a minute, he watched his mother sit on her bed by the candle light. That unwavering incandescence; that vigorous source of life. Merlin mused the flames for a few minutes, a bit distracted, and then made up his mind.

No, he had just caused enough trouble; Emrys had just caused too much strife. When Merlin had finally woken up, he had found himself in Ealdor. How did he even get to Ealdor? Why did Emrys leave the Druid camp?

Thinking of Emrys's name sent a familiar cold shiver down Merlin's spine. Emrys was arcane, unfamiliar; his magic - unruly. Merlin closed his eyes and mentally shook away the sudden shiver. He reopened his eyes – now returning to their normal blue – and quickly shifted his focus back to what he was going to do next.

Go as far away from Ealdor as possible? Merlin knew that Emrys wanted nothing but to kill Uther and Arthur, and Merlin couldn't blame him. It was, after all, Arthur's fault that he wasn't saved and Uther's for persecuting his kind for so long. Emrys was right, but his actions were completely wrong. Emrys should not be plotting to kill anybody, especially Arthur. Without Arthur, Albion would never be born. That was Merlin's goal throughout the years; to teach Arthur, to change him – for the better. Now he would do anything to save Arthur - even if meant taking his own life.

Go to Gaius? In the past, whenever Merlin was conflicted, he would go to Gaius. Of course there would be times when he would ignore Gaius's advice, but those times were rare. And when Merlin did not heed Gaius's warnings, he would always manage to get himself into a huge mess full of tangles and knots. Whenever Merlin needed to talk to someone about his gifts and his secrets, it would always be Gaius. Gaius had grown to be more than just a simple Guardian – Merlin now thought of him as a father.

Hunith blew out the candle and got under the covers.

"Good night," Merlin whispered, and his hushed words carried in the calm breeze, slightly brushing against his mother's conscience.

No, Merlin decided. He would not go to his mother. No, he could not just run away from all of this. He would go to Camelot. He would see Gaius.

* * *

Arthur walked down the corridor and passed through the heavy doors into the throne room where his father sat. Uther's hard expression was harsh as it always was.

Arthur cleared his throat before speaking. "We have destroyed the source of the magic users. Their camp is now gone, and the danger - eliminated."

Morgana slightly shrank into her chair, appalled. The killing of more innocents fueled her detestation towards Uther. Inwardly, Morgana snickered. Uther would soon learn what his actions had done to her people, there would be consequences; there were always consequences. Morgana had learned that lesson when she was little when Uther had taught her about ruling Camelot. "_The power of this Kingdom rests on my shoulders. Whatever I do has consequences. I am I just hoping those consequences will be for the better." _No, his decisions were not for the better, they were only for the worse. He had persecuted her for too long. Morgana would soon rise above him, unlike anyone of her kind, and have her revenge. She would make him pay for those long years of being cut off from the truth – for all those years of being lied to. Yes, Uther would pay soon. It was only a matter of time, just a few days. Morgana smiled.

Uther shook his head, obviously pleased.

"Now the people can stop worrying about this… pestilence. That is all."

* * *

"Good-night Gwen," Morgana spoke, turning her head towards Gwen as she put out the candle.

"Sleep well."

"You too," Gwen added cheerfully.

As the door closed, Morgana looked outside her window. She would leave in just a few hours.

Arthur walked back to his chambers and opened the door. Someone had lit a fire, and his room was now cleaned up. He raised his eyebrow. Who would have done this? Probably Gwen, he mused.

* * *

As Arthur undressed himself, he made up his mind: Yes, he would go to Gaius tonight. He had to tell Gaius about seeing Merlin. Alive? Hallucination? He needed answers.

* * *

Gwen left Morgana's chambers and she sighed. Morgana was probably going to sneak out again tonight, and when she did, Gwen would go to Gaius and report back to him about her disappearance. Of course Morgana would be sure to return early in the morning when no one was awake. But when Gwen would come in to 'wake her up' Morgana would always tell her that she had nightmares and that Gaius's potion was not strong enough, so she didn't get much sleep. Morgana would lie to her. Morgana lied.

It was a terrible feeling to have someone you trusted, someone you thought was your friend to lie right in your face.

Immediately, Gwen thought of Merlin. But Merlin was different. He had not lied to anyone. In fact, from the beginning he had alluded to being "in disguise". Merlin was an innocent soul, and he looked like he never could and never would be able to hurt anybody. It was strange how fate worked - the one who could help was now dead, and the one who was causing all of this pain was still alive.

Why was fate so cruel?

* * *

The silver moon hung high in the sky, and Morgana knew that it was time. She put on her cloak and left her chambers, took her horse from the stables and she quickly rode to the location of the now destroyed camp.

Soon, she met Morgause there with Mordred. Alvarr and Cenrid stood among the ruins, searching for any survivors.

Cenrid stood up. "They've killed everyone."

"No they haven't."

Cenrid looked at Mordred. "What do you mean?"

"Emrys is definitely still alive. I just cannot feel where he is right now because he is no longer Emrys but Merlin. It will only be a short while before he turns. From experience, I know that he is not the person to run away from these kinds of situations. He is probably in heading towards Camelot."

Mordred looked at Morgana. "Perhaps you can do something,"

Morgana smiled. "Of course."

* * *

It was late, and Arthur decided to go to Gaius's. No one would be awake, and no one would see him.

"Gaius?" Gwen called as she opened his chamber door.

She found him looking through his bookcases.

"She's gone again?" he asked, looking towards her.

"Yes. And I don't think that the news about Arthur eliminating that whole camp has helped. I think it has made her much angrier. I don't know what I'm going to do, Gaius. I can tell you all you want about it, but I can't tell the person who can actually do something about it. Morgana has to be stopped. And if I tell Arthur, he's not going to-"

Gwen stopped midsentence as she heard a knock on the door.

"It's me, Arthur," he said as he walked in. "What was that you were saying about Morgana?"

Gaius eyed Gwen.

* * *

It was dark, and Merlin could barely see two yards in front of him. The small sliver of a moon above did not help him. At least Merlin knew where he was going. After tripping over a few branches and evading a group of knights who guarded the walls of Camelot, Merlin made it in through the gates and he walked towards Gaius's place.

His heart pounded in his chest, Emrys stirred inside him.

_No Emrys. Don't come back._

* * *

"I cannot believe this. What is happening here? Is everybody I have considered to be loyal actually betraying Camelot?"

"Of course not," Gwen said, "I'm loyal to you. I've always been."

Arthur sighed.

"I still can't believe this. Of all of the people, Morgana is the one? How can you be so sure, Gwen?"

"I've seen her use magic before, Arthur. She lights fires. You can trust me, Arthur. You know that I would never make up something like this."

Arthur rubbed the sleep out his eyes. "I just can't believe this. Merlin turns out to be a sorcerer, except he ends up revealing himself to save me, and then Morgana turns out to be one also, but she's plotting the downfall of Camelot. My father says that magic corrupts the soul," Arthur paused and then added, "but Merlin must be an exception then."

"Arthur," Gaius said. "Magic is neither evil nor good. It is the person and how they use it that makes it what it is."

"Stop!" a knight's loud voice from outside called, interrupting their conversation, and there were footsteps outside Gaius's door. Suddenly, the door opened, and someone in a green cape flew in and ran into Merlin's room. The knight barged in and looked at all of them. He looked disheveled. "Have you seen anyone pass through here, Sire?"

"No I haven't," Arthur lied.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this late an hour. Be careful, someone has gotten into Camelot."

Arthur shook his head and the knight closed the door.

"Who was that?" Gwen asked. "I mean the person who just ran in here. How did thye know we were here, and why was the guard targeting them?"

Arthur walked towards the door and took his sword out of its sheath. He always kept his sword by him, even when he was asleep, he had it still attached to his belt. It gave him comfort, reassurance that he was safe, even in these dark times.

"Who goes there?" he yelled.

No response.

"On the count of three, I am coming in there. I am warning you – I am armed."

Still no response. A little shuffling could be heard through the door.

"One."

Nothing.

"Two."

"Three." Arthur opened the door he pointed his sword instinctively towards the person's back.

The person slowly turned around and faced him.

Standing before Arthur was Merlin.

* * *

Inwardly, Merlin felt Emrys shift. The appearance of Arthur was enough to bring him out, and Merlin had to hold an arm around his chest to try to stop part of the suffocating feeling that slowly started to envelop him. In just a few moments, he would be spinning back into the darkness. But he had to fight it, for Arthur, Merlin thought as Emrys tugged at him again, and he flinched.

"Merlin?" Arthur voiced in disbelief, and he put down his sword and walked up to him. He walked over the familiar Druid cloak that lay unceremoniously upon the floor. Merlin was messily dressed in his familiar clothes, excluding his neckerchief.

"Is that really you, Merlin?"

As Arthur's voice shot towards Merlin, Emrys resurfaced, but only for a second. A slight glint of gold marred Merlin's blue eyes, however, unnoticeable to the mortal eye. Emrys shifted away from Arthur's advance.

"Don't even touch me," Emrys voiced coolly.

Arthur stopped and looked with wide eyes back at Emrys.

Merlin pushed back and stopped himself from retreating. He closed his eyes and rubbed his eyes.

"I-I have to see Gaius," Merlin spoke, alluding Arthur's stare and he tightened the grip he had around his chest. Emrys's struggle was hurting him. He was pulling at him, tear at him from his inside. Merlin didn't want to go back into the darkness. Down, down, down. He couldn't. _No, Emrys. Don't come back._

Merlin pushed past Arthur and unsteadily walked up to Gaius who was now seated at his desk. Along the way, his eyes flitted towards Gwen's.

"Merlin? Is that really you?" Gwen asked. "I thought you were dead," she added. Merlin turned towards her and closed his eyes, and slowly reopened them. No Emrys. Don't come back.

"It's really me."

"But how-"

"I don't know."

Merlin turned back towards Gaius.

"I wondered when you'd return," Gaius smiled. But when he saw Merlin's arm gripping tightly around his chest he looked at Merlin cautiously. "What's wrong, Merlin?"

Merlin closed his eyes. _No Emrys. Don't come back._

Merlin felt the night pass over him again, and he gasped. His headache reappeared, and Merlin felt a sudden wave of dizziness, just before he lost his footing.

_What are you doing Merlin?_

I'm seeking advice from my Guardian, Gaius.

_Then why is Arthur here?_

I don't know.

_Let me come back. I can get rid of him. _

NO.

_Why not? After all he's done to me. US._

He is not the blame. He is not. _Let me come back…._

"What's wrong with him, Gaius? He's barely breathing!" Arthur said as they picked up Emrys and carefully placed him on Gaius's bed. As soon as they put Emrys down, he curled up and tucked his head between his knees.

"I don't know."

Emrys moaned and then reopened his eyes. Golden.

Gaius looked back at Emrys. "Are you ok, Merlin?"

Emrys caught his breath and sat up.

"I'm ok now." Maybe it would be a good idea not to tell them about Merlin and himself…

Arthur shifted towards Emrys. "I'm so sorry about-"

Just the site of Arthur boiled his hatred. Emrys mustered up his strength and stood up, "You feel sorry?" He said in a loud, defiant voice. "That's all? Do you know how much I've suffered under you and your father? Do you know how much pain you have caused me and my people? Do you know how it feels to be surrounded by people who would only want you dead? And you feel sorry," Emrys shook his head. "That's all?"

Arthur stared at him. Of all of the things he had expected Merlin to say, this was not it.

Emrys walked up towards him and Arthur had to retreat into the wall. "Do you know what you've done? Do you even understand it? You're going to get what you-" Emrys lifted a hand towards his throat and backed away from Arthur as he felt Merlin come back. Emrys lifted his other hand over his eyes like someone who is having a bad headache.

Merlin moaned, reopened his eyes and shook his head.

Blue eyes.

"W-what just happened?" he asked, looking at all of their surprised faces.

"You were just standing up to Arthur, Merlin," Gaius said. "Something I've never seen you do to anyone but me."

Merlin rubbed his temples. "I-I'm so sorry about that. And I can't explain… Arthur," Merlin said, turning to him. "You'd be best to stay away from me. Who knows what will happen next time."

"Next time what?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Just listen to me for once, please," Merlin begged.

_No Emrys. Don't come back._

* * *

I hope that the length of this chapter has made up for my lateness, again. My schedule's a bit hectic this month. Thank you everyone for sticking with me this far!

Please review. :)_  
_


	14. Dear Readers

Dear Readers:

I will continue writing this fiction. However, what I have written so far is not to my satisfaction, so I will rewrite a majority of this story.

I am so sorry for the wait!

~Forbearnan (formerly Freya1234)


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